Monday, August 11, 2008

Dogs in China

Three young dogs were foraging on the shore of the Yangtze River. With the sun sinking on the horizon, someone on the riverboat nearby called, perhaps signalling dinner. Two of the dogs jumped on the plank and went happily back to the boat. They looked healthy.

The last dog walked hesitantly towards the boat, looked longlingly towards it, stopped short, crouched down, and finally put its head down, still staring at the boat. Its eyes were full of sadness; and there seemed to be minor wounds on it.

We found this slogan on the side of the boat. It was a curse: “People who beat dogs - your children will die.”Dog meat was available in many restaurants in Hubei, and in the canteen in one of the high schools we visited.


3 comments:

田园树 said...

dogs are important to fishers in china. they keep dogs and treat them as a part of family.

StephenC said...

Yeah, I got the feeling the owners of the boat (and the dogs) did like dogs.

But, based on the curse, and the conditions of the other dogs (and cats) on the street, I could see animals were not always treated well there.

田园树 said...

U r right.
people treat dogs well as they are tools to people. Dogs keep gate and do other things. But once dogs are sick or old,people driven them away.