The Dogs of Beijing

As I’ve touched on once or twice, China is still a very much developing country. A hyperactive developing country, but a developing country all the same. Nowhere is this more apparent than Bejing’s animal control policy.

There are no shelters. Strays, when rounded up, are usually euthanized. Pets are usually set lose to seek their own fortunes when families move. Discarded domesticated animals usually lodge in groups ranging from small to astonishingly large.

For example, the Embassy district north of Sanlitun is renowned city-wide for being a mecca for stray cats.

(In case you’re looking to adopt — the Kenyan Embassy and the Saudi Arabian Defense Attaché office are the primary hot spots for freelancing cats. I’ve seen up to thirty at a time cowering behind the fences.)

Dogs are something of a different deal. With the One Child Policy, older couples who have dogs treat them something akin to children. Usually these are smaller “barky” dogs whose names and breeds elude me, and, frankly, are of little interest.

They are also not discarded as frequently as cats are when people move.

One reality of city life is that the government prohibits larger dogs from living within 4th Ring. However, the law was recently amended to allow pets to visit the inner city. Now Saint Bernards can be seen marching their owners proudly down the urban streets of Beijing drawing crowds and curious gazes.

My friend Li, who lives beyond 4th Ring, recently “adopted” two girls — Lumi, a Spitz, and (my personal favorite) an Alaskan Huskie named Nina. They’re both 5 months old.

And, of course, we brought them down to the Liang Ma river to play where I couldn’t help but take a dozen overly redundant photos which I now present to you for your viewing pleasure.

July 11th, 2008 in Journal |