Massacres of the innocents

A county in south-west China has ordered all 50,546 dogs to be killed to fight a rabies outbreak which has killed three people, state media say.

It has taken five days, but authorities in Mouding County in south-west China say they have killed almost all of the 50,000 dogs in the area.

Some of the dogs were clubbed to death in the street as their owners watched. Other dog owners took matters into their own hands, poisoning or electrocuting their pets. They were paid around $0.60 (£0.32) for each dog in compensation.

A second Chinese local government has launched a controversial mass cull of dogs in a bid to tackle rabies.

Officials in Jining, in eastern Shandong province, said 16 people had died of the disease this year.

They said they would kill all dogs within five km of 16 villages where rabies had been found, suggesting 500,000 dogs were under threat.

Posted by David on August 4, 2006 10:57 AM