Rabies scare leads to Chinese government massacring 50,000 dogs, plans for second slaughter underway.

By Brendan Smith
brendansmith@transworldnews.com

After three people died of rabies in a southwest county of China the government ordered 50,000 dogs to be destroyed. The only dogs spared in the five day massacre were military and police K9’s in Yunnan province’s Mouding county.

According to reports only 3% of dogs are vaccinated against rabies by their owners in China. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 2,651 human deaths as a result of rabies in 2004. The most recent deaths of three Chinese citizens in Mouding led to the government’s decision.

Li Haibo, a spokesman for the county government stated “With the aim to keep this horrible disease from people, we decided to kill the dogs.”

The government offered citizens 63 cents to kill their dogs before teams were sent in to do the job. Many of the dogs not killed by their owners were taken directly by the killing teams and beaten to death on the spot.

Zhang Luping, founder of the Beijing Human and Animal Environmental Education Center called the massacre a “brutal and cold-blooded campaign” and went on to say “this really damages our national image and sets a really bad example to show how lazy and inconsiderate those local government officials are,”

In the eastern city of Jining officials have said 16 people have died as a result of rabies. This has led to a government planned slaughter of all dogs within three miles of where the disease has been found. The city has estimated that the dog population is over 500,000.

While the World Health Organization (WHO) has not openly criticized the measures taken by the Chinese government, they have pointed to an obvious failure in the country’s health care system.

About TransWorldNews™

TransWorldNews, owned and operated by TransWorldNews, Inc., has combined innovation and ingenuity to become the leader in global news distribution. By providing a multitude of tools that interlink with each other, TransWorldNews has created an environment where companies and individuals can establish a virtual office that supplies visitors valuable information accessible from one site. All created profiles, news releases, audio files, job postings, products and services, TWNpeople profiles, and contact information submitted on TransWorldNews can be accessed from each feature. Along with news alerts for journalists and registered members that can be specified by industry or company name, TransWorldNews is committed to making your news known to the world.

TransWorldNews has distribution access to 700 newsrooms & over 8000 journalists in the United States and Canada. All news releases submitted through TransWorldNews are carried on the additional TransWorldNews syndicated sites (stockenews.com, stockfiling.com, wooeb.com, wallstreetnewshour.com, and explosivepicks.com) as well as all RSS affiliates. With sites in fourteen countries offering its clients cost effective and efficient distribution options, along with useful tools to create exposure for their business, TransWorldNews has become the preferred avenue by which news is distributed.

Contact:
TransWorldNews
220 Cherry Hill Rd.
Monroe, Ga. 30656
Tel. 770.266.4360
Fax 770.266.7340