SIRIUS GLOBAL ANIMAL ORGANISATION: China's Dog Trade and Slaughter

By Claudette Vaughn

Elly Maynard, appalled after hearing that Asian countries are attempting to buy Saint Bernard and other large breed dogs to provide meat for Chinese tables, has declared war. This New Zealand woman has been working constantly for over 3 years to awaken western countries to the consumption and slaughter of dogs, in particular Saint Bernards.

Here she speaks to the Abolitionist.

Abolitionist: You are on a crusade to have the murder of cats and dogs in China outlawed. Is that correct?

Elly Maynard: Absolutely! We are also campaigning against the export of any dog to China from any country.

Abolitionist: How does your organisation propose to do that?

Elly Maynard: As a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) with Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations it gives us more kudos with Governments. We have already been instrumental in having bans in place in Australia through people working with us, wherein no dog goes to any country where they are consumed by humans. This law is in place in Victoria and while small, it is a victory and a start. There always has to be a start before there is a finish! We intend setting this up in other countries. Word of mouth amongst breeders has also brought huge results.

We are dealing with a situation in NZ where our Vice Chairperson, Lyndsay Wilson, has been instrumental in getting word to breeders through her magazine. People are starting to take notice!

Abolitionist: SIRIUS Global Animal Organisation won a first in being the first NGO in special consultative status with the economic and social council of the United Nations. What does this mean exactly for non-human animals?

Elly Maynard: Yes, it is indeed a first. However, I must make it clear that Sirius is the first organisation in the world with a voice for "Domestic Companion Animals" at the United Nations. There are 2 other organisations with NGO Status also. Our Status gives us the right to address the United Nations and Member Countries on behalf of the animals and we have indeed done this.
The Reunion Dog situation was just one of these instances wherein our United Nations Representatives wrote directly to the Government who took notice and I believe something like this will never happen again.

Abolitionist: Who are the main countries breeding the animals for export to China and in what quantities as far as you can gauge?

Elly Maynard: Any country who breeds dogs and remember, it is also cats, is prey to the Chinese Agents and also the money they offer. However, there are so many dogs now in China, making up the numbers decimated during the Red Guard cull that the numbers of imports have declined to what they were 2000 prior.

But, now there is a huge demand, apparently by China, for fur and fur is the by-product of the meat trade.

Abolitionist: How much secrecy surrounds the export of dogs to China?

Elly Maynard: There are currently no laws in NZ or anywhere which prohibits the export of Dogs to China. I have researched this thoroughly and anyone can send a dog to any country they wish - Asian students are also used in stating they want to take their companion animal home with them. These students are from Korea and China.

Abolitionist: What about cats and their fur used for trim purposes. Can you provide some background there please?

Elly Maynard: Absolutely! Just look for instance at "Carpet of Fear" on the Sirius website. For some reason, film stars are making fur a come back. I have walked down the streets of my city and seen young women holding Chihuahua's trying to replicate Paris Hilton. She not only uses fur but discards her dogs when they get as she puts it "too big for her handbag". I have yet to see a too big Chihuahua!

I have made it my personal business to go into shops, especially in Winter here, and advise them on what they are selling. I have also spoken to a gift shop selling the "cute" little puppies and kittens in baskets sold under the guise of "rabbit" and advised them that it is cat fur. DNA testing has been carried out which has proven this beyond anything. Fortunately, on return visits, none of these articles are on sale so education is a big thing! No fur product should be sold regardless!

Abolitionist: Tell us about your investigations into the life of the Saint Bernard in China.

Elly Maynard: What life? For instance, in Beijing the 14 inch rule applies where no dog beyond that is allowed. I have reports from people in China who advise the most horrendous stories of people being stopped in the streets by Police who carry measuring tapes. The dogs are measured and if above the height are confiscated. Some have been killed in front of their Guardians, others taken to go into restaurants or research facilities. There is a wonderful elderly Professor in China, fighting this rule and the confiscation of the dogs. However, given the large amount of costs, responsible Chinese Guardians (and that is the term now for people who have domestic animals in their car) it all comes down to money people are forced to walk their dogs at night! Anyone sending a Saint Bernard to Beijing is asking for trouble, and of course, any other part of China - they can easily be transported into the farms.

The Saint Bernard's were taken over 10 years ago along with Newfoundland's, Leonbergers and Tibetan Mastiffs. The Chinese Government had decided that "the people would have new food". A research facility was set up at Shenyang which bred the Saints and other dogs. After experimentation, it was decided that the Saint meat was better than the rest and they were declared " The Meat Dog of Choice".

My contacts with Governments revealed that because of the Chinese "mentality" that inflicting torture on animals increased the adrenaline in that animal thus making its meat more "aphrodisiac" gave rise to animals being skinned alive (as recent video information has proven correct), legs broken the night before they were skinned alive. Breeding dogs are kept until they can breed no more then slaughtered. No dog is safe.

The "live skinning" is because the coats do not shed. So, in answer to your question re the Saint Bernard's in China, this is it! Interesting that a NZ Government Health Department raided a "Chinese Herbalist" in NZ and confiscated 42 different herbal products - one, stating it was "an aphrodisiac containing 100% dog penis" was found to contain 100% Viagra! Not a trace of animal parts so....

Abolitionist: How much dog-meat is eaten in China? Among who?

Elly Maynard: The Dog King Restaurant in Beijing caters to the Chinese Government Officials and there is a 2 week waiting list. A New Zealand reporter visited this Restaurant and reported on it. It is still in existence and serves mainly Saint Bernard's on the menu. Other dogs would now be on this same menu but still catering for the rich, wealthy and influential.

Please understand, because of the total misconception that eating dog meat can "cure" anything and make women retain "their youthfulness". You are dealing with years of ingrained misconception at the expense of not only the
cats and dogs, but all the animals, excluding farm animals, that the Chinese consume. Look at SARS and now Avian Flu - all from China - this should tell people a lot, but unfortunately you are dealing with a country who is
beholden to no-one with thousands of years of superstition but is it?

Abolitionist: The Chinese government has sent out notification that they want to expand this Industry and is looking for a western country to help them. Can you provide any more info on this point at all?

Elly Maynard: Once we alerted the global community to what was happening, procuring and I say that word well, became very difficult so any country with interests in China were "advised" to help if they that had businesses in China. I know this for a fact. There is a breeder of Saint Bernard's in NZ who was asked for his whole litter of Saint Bernard puppies, by a New Zealander. When questioned why he wanted a whole litter, he was told "they are wanted for the Chinese Police Force". When the breeder again asked questions, it came out that this person had a business in China and was told by his counter parts that if he wanted to retain his business he would get the dogs

Fortunately, the breeder was an ex-New Zealand policeman and he refused to sell, also the phone numbers given proved to be "incorrect".

His first comment to me was, "are they wanting the dogs to lick to death perpetrators of crimes?" Many agents in the beginning travelled the world under the guise of "farm equipment buyers". This is what their Visas stated,
and told unwitting breeders the dogs were going to wonderful Show homes. This is how China got hold of the Saints in the first instance.

Abolitionist: How are the dogs slaughtered?

Elly Maynard: Some are trussed up by their back legs and their throats are slashed. Some have their legs broken and skinned alive. There is no other slaughter method. All these slaughters are witnessed by other dogs. Others do not see what is coming, are put into sacks and then iron bars are used to hit them senseless however, we know the majority are only stunned before they are dissected for human consumption.

Abolitionist: There will be people and activists reading this that will say it’s the cruelty aspects that should be banned. Explain to them why it is mandatory to work at abolished entirely this burgeoning industry.

Elly Maynard: We have indisputable evidence from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, an organisation whom even Governments and the United Nations listen to and act on, which cannot be given for public information. See CDC on the web as to whom they are.

We have some of the world's foremost experts on board who have researched dogs/humans back over 30,000 years, Dr Marc Bekoff and Professor Paul Tacon are just 2 of these world experts - Sirius does nothing without information and evidence.

China is one of the largest exporter and importer in the world and does NOT have a Nation of starving people who must have dogs to survive. My husband and I had a meeting in 2003 with the First Secretary of the Chinese Embassy in NZ - the first time in the world that the Chinese had actually admitted that they were importing the dogs. The First Secretary (and he was quoted afterwards in a major newspaper) stated that the breeding and slaughter of dogs was purely a "money making" venture as the dogs could be bred in confined spaces (a Saint will give birth to up to 14 puppies in the right circumstances) were easy to manage and every one could have a couple of dogs tied up in their backyards - I think this says it all!

Abolitionist: Is the Fur Trade the same as the dog-meat Trade? What countries are buying (knowingly or unknowingly) the fur trim fashion articles?

Elly Maynard: The fur trade is a by-product of the meat trade and fortunately or unfortunately, has received more exposure but all ends meet! There are many countries who have established bans. The first was Italy and this came
about through Ilaria Ferri our Italian Co-ordinator who has wonderful contacts and after our trip to Rome in 2001. However the major countries i.e. USA and Great Britain and New Zealand have yet to do this. We have found through correspondence especially with the NZ Government that they do not want to "upset our Foreign Trading Partner".

Abolitionist: What is your organisations view on how best to put pressure on the Chinese government with the Chinese Olympics coming up in a few years time.

Elly Maynard: This is difficult. There will always be people, for reasons of their own, who will want to attend an Olympic Games but people like Sir Paul McCartney has made a stand in stating he will not ever go to that country. It is very easy for a country such as this to "gloss over" the atrocities committed against the animals, but each and every one of us has a responsibility to ensure that we all, animals and humans live life to the fullest, in safety and peace as they can. Granted humans can do much to ensure laws are in place, but there are no such laws for the animals. So, a country such as China obtains the Olympics, again, because they are a "powerful" trading country?

It is time when people stood up and said "enough is enough"

China does not have and does not intend on having any laws in place in the near future - again, anyone sending an animal to China must know this! Sirius is an NGO with the United Nations and as such we have been told that we "cannot upset a Member Country". I will put this status at risk to bring the plight of the animals in China to the FULL attention of the world if I must! So, boycotts? Letters? Who knows?

People can write to China until they are blue in the face but nothing changes. It will take a concerted effort from "We the People", the first words of the United Nations, for anything to "perhaps" happen.

Sirius, this year intends agendering the plight of the dogs (and then the cats) at a conference in Rome, October/November of this Year 2006 and to this end, we will ask the "new" Minister of Agriculture to agenda this, which we have been told by the FAO can be done. The FAO has a list of ALL animals used for food or NOT on their FAOSTAT List which is what we want the dogs put on. If it is not, then indeed, we face a Government who "does not want to upset their foreign trading partner" – at what cost!