Live Animal Market in Guangzhou, China
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

The following account of what takes place in a live animal market in china was sent to us:

Using a pair of giant clippers, the bare-chested Chinese man lunges into one of many wire cages on a truck and pins down a yelping dog.

Exhausted and terrified, the animal shakes uncontrollably, leaving trails of urine as she is dragged off the truck and hurled into a cage on the ground.

The scene is repeated countless times a day in this wholesale market in the southern city of Guangzhou, where dozens of animals -- from ordinary domestic pets to exotic creatures such as civet cats -- are destined for the dinner table.

Trucks arrive stacked high with scores of cages packed with dogs that have not been fed or watered for days ahead of their slaughter.

Hanging from a nearby ceiling are a several freshly skinned and gutted dogs. Using a brush, a young woman paints them with sweet barbecue sauce before roasting them over an open flame.

Dogs, more than anything else, seem to be a staple in this part of China, where consumers believe their meat helps to keep them warm during winter.

It is estimated that five million dogs a year are eaten in China, many from farms in the north that are now breeding imported mastiffs, St Bernards and Dobermans with local dogs.

They are breeding a super dog with a strong constitution, which will grow to its maximum weight in the shortest possible time, so they are ready to be sold at eight or nine months instead of a year.

But public awareness of the practice, and opposition to it, is beginning to grow.

It is almost as thought animals at this market are having their revenge on humans, for this is one of the places where the SARS virus is believed to have started.

We might be horrified at this report, but the same horrible scene takes place all over the world with other farmed animals. The terror, the pain, the life-long suffering, and death will only end when we stop eating and wearing all animal products.

Return to Animal Rights Articles