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I wish I lived the life an Reuters or AP news writer, hanging around exotic locations while slamming together quotes and stats, and pumping out articles while being a suave journalist.

Case in point: It’s a dog’s life in China, found via the quite racistly titled Dogs in China: From entree to accessory. Chock full of statistics, and quotes thrown in with little care where they land. For example:

Despite popular perceptions that dogs and cats are poorly treated in China compared to Western countries, both animals have long histories there.

Some scientists believe dogs emerged 15,000 years ago from a group of wolves tamed in China. Since ancient times, cats have been valued for their pest-catching skills.

The region’s pet craze has also caught on in Hong Kong, which has around 200,000 registered dogs, according to government data, though a dog serial killer - dubbed the Bowen Road Poisoner - has haunted the city for 19 years, dropping poisoned meat on walking trails which kills most dogs that eat it.

But the hard life for dogs and cats in greater China could be changing as Western pet culture takes root.

In December, Taiwan legislators passed a law that calls for fines of up to $US7,730 ($8232) on sellers of dog meat, a winter staple once popular in military units.

“The animal markets keep getting smaller and smaller,” said Marek Michalski, 43, a Polish trader in Guangzhou who spoke at a cafe near a market where live cats are sold as food.

“Many Chinese I know say if they buy a cat like that at the market, they’ll set it free.”

Oh those Polish traders, well know experts on Chinese psychology. And they buy the cats and then set them free? Where do the cats go then? How does that help the problem?

And this sentence, “Despite popular perceptions that dogs and cats are poorly treated in China compared to Western countries, both animals have long histories there.” doesn’t make any sense. I’m not sure if this is some kind of logical fallacy or just poorly written.

I am very aware I could be accused of being a bit hypocritical here, with my sometimes badly written diatribes. However this isn’t my job.

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The year of the rat brings unexpected consequences as Hamster prices triple in China.

Pet shop owners say stocks are running low - and prices high - as children clamour for a furry friend.

According to the Chinese media, prices have tripled to about 30 yuan ($4.20, £2.10) per hamster across the country.

In the Year of the Rat, this tiny creature has become the most acceptable rodent, a type of animal that is not everyone’s first-choice pet.

I think I remember seeing a hamster once while I was in China, in Guangzhou. Although frankly I tried to avoid the pet stores…

image from flickr user locomom

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Via Fark, Chinese trucking live rats to southern restaurants:

Live rats are being trucked from central China, suffering a plague of a reported two billion rodents displaced by a flooded lake, to the south of the of country to end up in restaurant dishes, Chinese media reported.

“Recently there have been a lot of rats … Guangzhou people are rich and like to eat exotic things, so business is very good,” the China News Service quoted a vendor as saying, referring to the capital of Guangdong province.

Wonderful. The article also indicates that this rat plague could be partially caused by the eating of snakes and owls, who would normally help keep the rats in check, or the Three Gorges Dam project or climate change. Regardless of the cause, some local people are certainly making a tidy profit off of rat catching. I remember when I was in Guangzhou searching around for rat on a stick and being unable to find it. If I was down there now I would be in rat eating heaven. So to help out my friends down in the South, here are some rat recipes to take care of this rodent problem. After all how often can you say that you helped prevent the plague by eating.

Rat Ragout
Deep Fried Field Rat
Cooking Rats and Mice
Ground Rat Meat and Chili Paste

You can also check this Snopes article about Rat Food, which has some (most likely real) images of rats being prepared to be eaten. If you have any other rat recipes, or know of the Chinese websites that are listing recipes as mentioned in the story, please leave them in the comments section.

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This bird was seen at the Xiamen Botanical Gardens, and who I nicknamed “Floppy Testicle Head”. I however am not a birder and have never seen this breed before, so if anyone out there knows what this is, leave it in the comments section.

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According to a story in yesterdays China Daily, N.J. dog crowned world’s ugliest, a 2 year old Chinese Crested and Chihuahua mix named Elwood won the title of world’s ugliest dog. While not strictly China news, I thought I might share this with you because

The piece goes on to state that the majority of entries into the competition were Chinese Crested dogs. They are quite strange looking indeed.

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I have tracked been tracking the developments in Nanjing’s efforts to control its population of 93,000 dogs. These events are apparently getting more publicity now as China Daily ran a feature on about how Nanjing to limit dog ownership. Here are the major points of this proposed law from the article.

If this law is passed violations can bring up to a 1000 RMB fine. All of this seems vaguely similar to a Beijing dog law that was passed a little while ago. Nothing is mentioned about if someone already owns more then one dog, or their dog does not fit the size requirements. And while some of these things are quite sensible, the whole law seems like standard government over-regulation that while surely be ignored.

Related RedKemp:
南京新的狗法 - Nanjing’s New Dog Law
Dogs in China
Family in Nanjing sets Dogs on Fire, Public Outrage Follows

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Traveling around for a couple of weeks, so posting with be intermittent or nonexistent. Enjoy this kitten!

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Dogs riding on bikes and scooters is not an odd scene in China. Small pekingese and Pomeranians ride on baskets on the front of bikes, or ride on scooters by their owners feet. Yesterday I even saw a basset hound who was riding on a specially designed wooden platform on a scooter. But a dog in Guangzhou is a little more talented then that.

The owner says that as soon as he got him he took to riding on the back of the bicycle and has perfect balance. I am suprised that a dog that big can actually stay on such a small area. And the best part:

“If he needs to pee, he taps my shoulder with his front paw. Then when I stop he runs to a secret place,” says Mr Liu, of Guangzhou city.

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While I had previously planned on going to Monkey Island during our upcoming trip to Hainan, after being sent this website with pictures from Nanwen Monkey Island I changed my mind. In it you can see monkeys being forced to hold flags while chained to a rock. This is breathlessly described in a section from Travel China Guide:

Passing through a vegetation corridor, you will be amazed to find seven or eight macaques standing in a line along the path holding triangular flags or saluting to welcome their honored guests. Some naughty ones are wandering with their flags in their hands, and even some are imitating their visitors’ odd ways of walking. How funny they are!

Other pictures show them having to play little instruments, pull a cart around and in the most bizarre picture ride a goat that is riding a unicycle across a wire. While not as cruel as the canceled Shanghai Animal Olympics, it’s in the same vein. I just wanted to see monkeys frolicking in their natural habitat, not being forced to do some horrible show. And isn’t this place supposed to be a nature reserve?

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