In the age of hypersensitive geological instruments and scientific tools, isn’t it nice to know that the best way to detect earthquakes is with a warm-bloodied creature called a dog?
Right, no.
It’s a quaint idea — using canines to predict the earth’s tremors — but after implementation in one Chinese city, it’s also something else: really annoying. Here’s AFP with the story:
The earthquake authority of Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province in the east, keeps dogs since they will “act abnormally when an earthquake is coming”, sometimes up to 10 days in advance, an official surnamed Song told AFP.
The bureau used the dogs at the request of the provincial government, he added, saying that chickens and ducks could be effective as well.
But neighbours are complaining on social media about the animals’ nightly howling, according to the official provincial news website Dajiang.
“The compound of the Nanchang earthquake authority has I don’t know how many dogs, every night at 11 pm they start barking over and over,” it quoted one as saying.
So, what if the dogs were muzzled?
Asked if that would stop them carrying out their predictive function, [Song] agreed and said he would ask his boss what to do about that, [Dajiang] reported.
Maybe just stick with the man-made tools for now, guys. UPDATE, 5:59: Unless we’re talking about this dog.
Curious incident of China’s quake dogs in the night-time (AFP)
