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I believe the zoo is going to stop this process. China has evolved from a rural, poor and under developed country into an economic power house with an exploding middle class in a very short period of time. I read that it's rapidly becoming pet friendly just like the West.
In earlier times for instance dogs would have been treated in a much more practical and utilitarian manner. For personal security, chasing down and exterminating vermin on a farm and even as a food supply. In earlier times in hard scrabble China feeding puppies to zoo animals would not have batted an eye.
I believe the zoo is going to stop this process. China has evolved from a rural, poor and under developed country into an economic power house with an exploding middle class in a very short period of time. I read that it's rapidly becoming pet friendly just like the West.
In earlier times for instance dogs would have been treated in a much more practical and utilitarian manner. For personal security, chasing down and exterminating vermin on a farm and even as a food supply. In earlier times in hard scrabble China feeding puppies to zoo animals would not have batted an eye.
This practice has never been common. Puppies cost much more than pig organs or rats.
BTW American pet stores sell baby mice as food for pythons etc too, which I feel very uncomfortable with.
This practice has never been common. Puppies cost much more than pig organs or rats.
BTW American pet stores sell baby mice as food for pythons etc too, which I feel very uncomfortable with.
No, mice have fewer brain cells than dogs who are emotionally intelligent beasts that carry humanity through hard times and good. They stand by us in war and in depression, they give us motivation to colonize the galaxy through their wise coincidences and incredible will to depart from philosophical doom.
Many big to mid-size cities in China actually have very nice zoos. I take my daughter often, but it wasn't always like that. Even 7 or 8 years ago, many of the zoos did some pretty bad things like allow people to throw rocks and garbage at the bears and many big animals.
Its not the Bronx or San Diego zoo, but many improvements have been made in Zoos in China, and a better education of how to treat animals is present in most places.
No, mice have fewer brain cells than dogs who are emotionally intelligent beasts that carry humanity through hard times and good. They stand by us in war and in depression, they give us motivation to colonize the galaxy through their wise coincidences and incredible will to depart from philosophical doom.
They are not Mice, they are Gods.
You totally missed the point. I'm not saying it's better one way or another. In fact I hate both practices. However baby mice are routinely used as pet food in America, ALIVE!
Mice are mammals too, and actually rodents are closer to primates than carnivores are, in terms of evolution. Both rodents and primates belong to Euarchontoglires.
This thread reminded me of two anecdotes -- one told to me by a friend and the other by my dad -- that relate to human treatment of animals.
The friend grew up in a village in China, I guess during the the 1980s. I once asked him if he ever had a pet dog and he said "no". He then reconsidered it and said something like "well, there was a stray dog that would hang out in my village ... and i would play with him. He was my friend. One day, I came home and the dog was hanging dead from a tree, with a noose around its neck. A man in the village, who was responsible for controlling nuisance animals, killed him."
My dad's story is from a small town in southeast Texas, in the early 1930's. On the main street of his town, he saw the "animal control" man shoot and kill and wild donkey in the middle of the street. What offended my dad most, however, was that there was a young boy standing next to the donkey when it was shot.
These two anecdotes are not equivalent. However, I think the 2nd one illustrates something that would not be accepted anymore in the US. I don't think it would have been even 20 years after it happened. Societal attitudes toward animals do change as places grow in affluence. So, it's not surprising to see the same thing has been occurring more recently across China, although it may take longer in rural places that are still less affluent than in the cities.
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