Your daily dose of China, everyone. Here’s CRI with the details:

A horse fully equipped with saddle and bridle was seen running a very fast pace on the northern section of the 5th ring road in Beijing in the morning of May 10, 2014.

Multiple Weibo posts from drivers at the scene say a man with a pony tail was running some 400 meters behind the horse and may have been the owner of the horse.

A man with a ponytail chasing a pony on a Beijing highway. This can’t get better, can it?

The scene escalated when one driver’s dog jumped out of a car and started chasing the man and the horse. The driver then got out of her car and chased the dog.

I spoke too soon.

A happy ending for all:

The two animals were stopped 20 minutes later at a nearby exit. Both owners left with their respective pets and left the scene before police arrived.

(H/T Brittany Hite)

Not a week after we learned about a Tibetan Mastiff that was brutally shot to death by armed officers, here’s a story about two Tibetan Mastiffs shot — with pistols — and beaten — with shovels — by police officers and residents of a village in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. NetEase has the story and pictures. Warning: pictures aren’t pleasant to look at.

The images begin to get graphic at this point in the slideshow (warning: graphic). Twenty officers were reportedly called in to put down the two dogs, which were “causing havoc.”

And to think: it wasn’t all that long ago that we thought Tibetan Mastiffs, which sold for record prizes at auctions, were considered exotic and precious in this country. The truth is: some Tibetan Mastiffs are fed abalone and sea cucumbers; others are just large mutts that are put down by whatever means. C’est la vie.

Mission accomplished, assholes.

(H/T Abe Sauer)

How many heavily armed policeman does it take to kill an oblivious Tibetan Mastiff? Apparently the answer is six.

Police were summoned to ‘take care of’ this large dog that bit three people in an apartment complex in Zhengzhou, Henan province on October 22. The above video picks it up from there.

We join several nervous onlookers and are provided with numerous shots of the (seemingly calm) dog as it strolls around a courtyard, parting crowds of people like Moses at the Red Sea. One victim shows off his wounds and points at his blood on the pavement.

A SWAT team arrives about halfway through the video and stalk the animal until it settles in an unoccupied apartment, at which point one officer proceeds, rather unskillfully, to injure the poor beast before eventually killing it. Six shots are fired. The dog is left whimpering, bloody and desperate to escape after the first, and isn’t totally silenced until the third or fourth shot. (Graphic warning No. 1: probably the most painful part of the video is when the camera zooms in on the injured animal scratching at a glass door.)

Was this really the best way to handle the situation? There are many methods of dealing with aggressive animals humanely; slowly filling it with bullets is not one of them.

Tibetan Mastiffs have had it rough in China in the last couple of months. Other cuddly creatures that aren’t giant pandas have had it rough for… much longer.

Graphic warning No. 2: This video depicts graphic imagery of a dog being shot several times. The horror starts around the 2:30 mark.

Rabies is a third-world problem: it’s treatable as long as you have money and access to the proper medical care. (Ninety-five percent of human deaths are in Asia and Africa, according to the World Health Organization.) In Jiangsu province, a father chose — out of monetary reasons — to not seek treatment after sucking blood out of a dog bite on his son, and is dead as a result.

Shanghai Daily has this sad story:

The victim’s son was taken to the hospital and received rabies vaccine shots after his father, a 41-year-old man surnamed Jiang, tried to remove any infection he may have been exposed to by sucking blood from the bite. The boy was bitten by a stray dog.

The father, a villager of Sitong County, was worried about the cost and didn’t get the same shots. Fellow villagers said he also thought it unlikely that people would be infected by the rabies virus through the mouth and he thought taking shots too troublesome.

China has the second highest mortality rate from rabies in the world, behind India — about 2,000 deaths per year. It’s why authorities, especially in rural villages, occasionally “crack down” on dogs — it’s easier than vaccinating everyone, unfortunately. And so, this story gives us another opportunity to count our blessings. We never have to worry about dying from rabies, since we do not live in a poor rural village. How lucky.

Dad dies of rabies after trying to treat son’s dog bite by sucking blood from wound (Shanghai Daily)

Want to see some animal cruelty? Of course you don’t, because you’re a sane, well-adjusted human being with a decent upbringing.

But goddamnit, here’s an old man beating a Tibetan mastiff to death in Tianjin, in plain sight, under blue skies — while someone fucking films. (Picture shows an old man about to hit a cowering dog with a stick, so we don’t recommend clicking through.)

Care for Chinese Animals has this report:

On 30^th Aug, an old man beat his own Tibetan mastiff to death in a street of Tianjin. People passing by trying to stop him but were unsuccessful. Tens of thousands of online and overseas media spread the news, causing public outcry against the man. We want the Tianjin Police to investigate the matter and make sure the murderer is punished, and we are strongly calling for the Tibetan Government to bring in laws that will prosecute people who abuse animals.

We’re not sure why he beat his dog to death, or why he chose to do it in public with the creature tied to a fence. But this dude — fuck him.

Here’s a video of it (and on Youku). An old man is clearly shown bludgeoning a dog to death, so we don’t recommend clicking through.

Incidentally, Tibetan mastiffs are an ancient and noble breed, sometimes passed off as lions, and one in particular — an 11-month-old pup named Hong Dong (“Big Splash”), who subsisted on beef, chicken, abalone, and sea cucumber — was sold for a record 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) in Qingdao in 2011.

Protest an old man beat his own Tibetan mastiff to death in a street of Tianjin (Care for Chinese Animals)

This is quite the tragic story. On August 9 at about 4 pm, a young man, reportedly 26, went to Kudi Pet Park in Beijing’s Chaoyang Park with his wife and two dogs. Only his wife would walk out alive.

“This used to be a dog amusement park, now it’s a park of horrors,” an eyewitness tells a Beijing TV reporter in the above video.

“The pet park is for dogs to go swimming,” another eyewitness says. “We all raise our dogs like they’re our children, and then this happens!”

What exactly happened?

Around 5 pm, the park had reportedly basically cleared out except for the man, his wife, and their dogs, who were swimming in the pool. All of a sudden, the dogs — a golden retriever and a poodle — went limp. As the man went in to pull them out, he also became lifeless. His wife reached to touch him, and she too passed out.

One eyewitness says she quickly realized that an electric current must have been flowing through the 30-square-meter pool.

While rescuers attempted to revive the man, the wife regained consciousness. The man was sent to a nearby hospital, where — with relatives outside loudly weeping — he was declared dead.

Beijing TV camped out at Kudi Pet Park’s front gate and intercepted two officials as they were leaving in a car. They got out but gave no comment for the camera. We’ll have to wait for more info.

Just two weeks ago, we saw a girl killed by an electric shock from a karaoke parlor’s defective microphone. Now this.

The following picture comes via Shanghai Daily:

A woman in Guangzhou who saw a neighbor’s pooch mounting her purebred is calling it rape and demanding 100,000 yuan in compensation. She’s also threatened to “castrate” her neighbor’s dog, in Global Times’s words, which brings up the all-important question: what the hell does that mean? Is she planning on slicing off the dog’s dick with a box cutter? Perform sorcery on it like the sadistic wizard did to Varys? Like Fulbert did to Abélard, whereupon the neutered mutt enters a canine monastery?

“My pedigree dog was intended for research and worth millions of yuan. It was important she stayed a virgin, so now I have to claim compensation,” she explained.

The woman notified police after catching the alleged rapist in the act outside her home. She insisted her dog had been seduced and raped, and even went as far as to collect bodily secretions from her dog as evidence, Guangzhou Daily reported on July 10.

The neighbor was rightly befuddled.

The dog’s owner surnamed Lin was baffled by the accusations. “Since both dogs were unleashed and running freely, it’s hard to define seduction and rape,” argued Lin.

Since the dispute began, the purebred owner has indeed kidnapped the neighbor’s mongrel, as The Nanfang writes. A modern-day love tragedy, this. (Assuming there was no actual rape, because otherwise “love” is totally and utterly the wrong word choice.)

Police, however, immediately dismissed the case as claims of “rape” between animals would be impossible to prove. But the owner did not leave it at that. After a series of heated disputes in their apartment complex, Jindao Gardens in Fangcun, that were so heated they caught the attention of neighbours, the owner of the purebred dog kidnapped the mongrel and is refusing to return it.

There is, of course, no legal case here at all for the purebred owner.

A veteran policeman also told the paper that only in the case of dog bites would the law get involved.

We’re not really sure what media ethics are on printing photos of alleged rapists and rape victims when they are dogs. If it’s frowned upon, we’d like to apologize for the above photos, though in our defense, Global Times did it first.

Woman accuses neighbor’s dog of rape (Global Times)
Bizarre case of ‘dog rape’ ends up in Guangzhou court (The Nanfang)

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)

Via Austin Ramzy of Time, here’s Beijing Evening News’s photoshopped picture of a dog pissing on a car. The title of the article, as if it matters at all, is, “No harm to tires; still, don’t let it ‘go’ wherever it wants.”

It’s about dogs peeing on tires. That picture, however, says so much more, does it not?

Other Wonderful Moments in Chinese Media:

• Forget About Kony 2012 In China. The Carl Weathers Meme Has Officially Arrived
• Toddler Survives 6th-Story Fall From Balcony After Passersby Catch Her On Tarp
• Here’s One TV News Station’s Unfortunate Computer Rendering Of Yesterday’s Yunnan Landslides

Follow Austin Ramzy on Twitter @austinramzy

Forgive us for being a week late to this, and we really don’t have anything to add to Kotaku’s story – “Hong Kong news site Sharp Daily (via IT Media) is reporting that on Chinese social networking site Weibo, many users are uploading gag photos of their dogs wearing panty hose, joking how ‘sexy’ the mutts look,” writes Brian Ashcraft — but seriously, what the fuck?

And this shit?

Half the dogs in these photos are totally overweight. Not cool, guys.

Because getting the updated dead swine count in Shanghai’s Huangpu River is like morning coffee, here’s AFP:

The number of dead pigs found in a river which runs through Shanghai has reached nearly 15,000, officials and reports said Tuesday, as a newspaper claimed the government was concealing the true tally.

On a fucking stick. Nearly 15,000 bloated carcasses have been dredged out of a river that provides drinking water on a fucking stick.

“We finally know why those pigs are jumping into the river!!!” writes one funny Sina Weibo user. Here’s the accompanying emoticon:

Damnit, dog. Goddamn you!

And because there is never, ever a bad time for this, here, once again with feeling, is China’s famous chicken-raping dog:

UPDATE: Now more than 16,000.

Previously: The Farmer Responsible For Dumping 6,601 (And Counting) Swine Carcasses Into Shanghai River Has Been Detained

In what’s being called the “32 Dog-Saving Campaign,” netizens in Chongqing are rallying to save hundreds of dogs that were intercepted off a transport truck Friday night. The “32″ refers to March 2, the day that dozens of people assembled at the scene where canines, fresh off the truck, remained tied up or locked in cages. You can get a glimpse in the video above.

Terence Yam of Hong Kong has written the definitive post about this incident, with information culled from Sina Weibo. He wrote that because he’s not in Chongqing, the least he could do was translate the information from social media in the hope that English speakers join the cause. He’s created a Facebook page called “Save the dogs in China – 聲援 「重慶32狗狗大救援」 行動,” and written a note titled “’March 2–Dog Saving Campaign’ in Chongqing reveals Dark side of the China Government. Animal Law in China is urgently needed!” It’s this note that we reproduce below.

Read on if you can bear it. In one case, a female dog owner found her stolen golden retriever on the death truck headed for the slaughterhouse, but had to buy back her pet. Eyewitnesses say volunteers were also beaten, and speculated that the police were in cahoots with the dog traders.

Take it away, Mr. Yam:

By Terence Yam

“Never ever depend upon government or institutions to solve any major problem. All social change comes from the passion of individuals.”, said Margaret Mead in “The Cove”.

I saw this piece of news in China’s tweeter “Weibo” tonight.  As a dog lover and a human being, I decided to translate it and spread it to more people.  If you dislike what the government and dog trader are doing in the story I am about to tell, or you support the action of those volunteers, I urge you to spread this out through your social media network.  We may not be able to say those dogs’ life since they are already in very bad shape.  But spreading this out may help prevent it from happening again!  Thanks for your help. Regards,Terence

Here a quick glance of what happened:

Volunteers stopped a truck full of 927 dogs in cages but the government was on the trader’s side 

• A volunteer found a truck (car plate: 桂B21759) transporting near a thousand of dogs towards Chongqing. He stopped the truck and reported to the local Animal Health Inspection Department.
• The government officials said the company got a “Legal” good inspection license and the dogs seem “HEALTHY and Safe for Consumption” (Let’s see with you own eyes if the dogs are really healthy when you scroll down to see the pictures”
• In fact, most of the dogs were either dead or dying.  (Due to the super crowded living area, lack of water/ food as well as sickness)
• Dog tags or collars can be found of the dog’s neck, which proves that those dogs are stole from the original owners rather than being raised up for meat.
• A female dog owner just made it to the scene and found her beloved Golden Retriever.  She has pay the trader to BUY back her dog who was STOLEN in the face of the POLICE!!!
• The local government department let the truck continue to move on.  The volunteers called for help and more supporters joined in.

927 dogs were being transported to Chongqing for meat. A girl found her Golden Retriever on the truck and saved him.

Volunteers got beaten under the police’s acquiescence

• The group stopped the truck again, trying to save the dogs.  The dog traders summoned a few dozens of gangsters to beat up the volunteers.
• The dog traders threatened the volunteers that they have guns, and they have been transporting dogs to the butchery for a long time.
• The police force circled up the scene to prevent the volunteers from walking over to save the dogs.

Local government agreed to inspect the dogs again, but refused to use the standard suggested

• After nearly 40 hours of endeavor, the trader agreed to let the volunteers unload the dogs (which took four hours) for a new round of health inspection.
• The local government said they will inspect the dogs again, but refused to use the standard and methods that the volunteers suggested.
• Not much local media came for the case.  The only two reporters who came turned out couldn’t write the story because of the pressure from their bosses.
• The dogs, who are men’s best friend and in bad shape, will be transported to the restaurants in the city for serving as food for those dog-meat-eater.
• Let alone the discussion if dog eating is right or wrong (I personally hate people who eat dogs), viruses and unpredictable diseases may be carried in the meat itself.
• And most importantly, it is obvious that the dogs trapped in the truck are not what the traders claimed to be privately raised for meat.  They are originally the beloved dogs in many people’s family!   It is too obvious when you look closely.

Finally they can unload the dogs.

How can you help?

1. Like this note to let your friends know about this ugly fact in China!
2. Share it, SPREAD THE NEWS! The government really need some external voice and pressure to do the right thing.
3. As I said earlier, we may not be able to save the lives of those dogs as they are already in really bad shape.  But with the public pressure, we may be able to push the government to set up certain kind of Animal Laws to prevent bad things like this from happening again.

Thanks for your support in advance and may god be with you.

March 2–Dog Saving Campaign’ in Chongqing reveals Dark side of the China Government. Animal Law in China is urgently needed! (Terence Yam, Facebook)

Chen Mingcai of the Chongqing Small Animal Protection Association said that a travelling citizen became suspicious of the truck and called police, who detained the truck driver on Friday night.

Chen said he was later contacted by a netizen who had seen a photo of the dogs left in the truck on the entrance of an expressway in southwestern Chongqing city.

Two dogs reportedly did not make it, but the story was posted to social media, and as we’ve seen it happen before, concerned citizens went to the scene to see if they could help.

He said that by Saturday afternoon volunteers from the animal center and other animal lovers who had seen postings about the dogs on social media had arrived at the truck wanting to help the dogs. Chen says three people were injured in clashes with suspected dog sellers who had also turned up.

Forty to 50 volunteers are currently taking care of dogs, and it’s unclear what will happen to them.

China Volunteers Rescue 900 Dogs in Cramped Truck (AP)

Security cameras captured video of a dog thief at work in Heshan, Guangdong province recently, and it’s frightening. Watch the speed with which the men operate: the van pulls up, a man leans out of the side with a hook, and it’s all over. It’s a snatch and go operation, and the poor pup — though it’s suspicious of the oncoming vehicle from the start — never has a chance.

We don’t see the license plate, but maybe police are able to zoom in and find these people. It’s not much comfort for the rest of us pet owners here, of course: your loved one can disappear without a trace, just that easily.

We’d hate to speculate where this particular dog is ending up, but it’s probably not an adoption shelter. A recent China Daily article states that according to a May 2011 survey, “more than 80 percent of households in three villages on the outskirts of Jinan, Shandong province, have experienced dogs being stolen in recent years.”

“Rural households always keep dogs to guard their homes. Thieves prefer the bigger dogs as they have more meat,” Guo said at a recent animal protection seminar in Beijing organized by Northwest University of Politics and Law.

The stolen dogs are often sent to nearby meat markets and restaurants, while some are shipped to other parts of the country, such as Jiangsu and Jilin provinces, the survey found.

Meanwhile in Jiangsu (Youku news video), a thief trying to hit a dog with a poison dart inadvertently hit his two-legged colleague-in-crime, which is the best kind of karma — the kind we absolutely wish on bandits everywhere.

UPDATE, 2:55 pm: A cursory search on Youku reveals a whole lot of these type of videos. Here’s one man talking about his poisoned dog — likely dead, just like his neighbor’s that suffered the same fate — and here’s one (from Liveleak) of a supposed dog thief — whose “pet” was found in a bag on his trike — getting abused.

This is perhaps the best reason to not eat dogs?

The old cliche about dog being man’s best friend wouldn’t be a cliche if not for stories like this one from Guiyang, Guizhou province. Although this one comes with an absurd twist.

On Sunday, a dog-owner fell in the middle of the street, reason unknown. His companion grew immediately concerned, as is evident by its ears tucked back, eyes whimpering, anxiety and genuine concern written on its face. Contrast this look with the expression on the two traffic cops who come wandering by…

Watch how they regard the prone man. One of them bends down and asks the unconscious guy a question, getting — surprisingly — no response. (And how the heck did the camera get there, anyway? No idea.)

When the traffic cops reach for the man’s identification, we’re told the dog begins yapping. More people circle around, doing absolutely nothing. The dog begins to lose it, barking in its language, “Damnit, man, CALL AN AMBULANCE. I’d drive him myself, but I’m a dog.”

After the cameraman has gotten about four different angles and B-roll, an ambulance arrives. Sensing utter incompetence closing in on his owners, the canine then decides it should not let the bipeds touch his friend. It begins to somewhat freak out, and is only subdued after someone realizes it’s actually quite small and harmless.

The unconscious man is finally loaded into the ambulance while people continue to marvel at the dog, who they encourage to hop into the back with its owner. The man continues to remain passed out.

We never do find out if the man, you know, survives. That dog though — what a treasure.

(I jest — the man most likely is fine, otherwise this whole episode would have been too absurd even for China; and this is a country that gave us chicken-raping puppy and a golden retriever sitting on the back of a moving bike.)