Results tagged “dogs”

Pet owners living in the Jinshan District, watch out. Jinshan officials have begun a massive search and seizure of unlicensed dogs in the area. This sudden dog culling has come after a stray dog allegedly bit 19 people on Monday. It attacked the first victim at 8am and then was cornered roughly two hours later and clubbed to death. As we've warned multiple times before, the result of these search and seizures are usually extermination - don't expect your dog to be safely lying in a jail cell while you look for relevant documents to prove its innocence. And remember, get your dog licensed and carry your license with you every time you take it for a walk - no matter how unreasonable 2000RMB and the need for multiple doggy photographs looks, it's got to be worth it if it saves Rover from death by beating. Source: Shanghai Daily

• Critics howl at pooch's pampering, price tag [China Daily] "A welcome worthy of a world leader that was given to a 4-million-yuan ($588,000) dog has raised the hackles of critics. The Tibetan mastiff, or Zang'ao in Chinese, arrived in his new masters' hometown of Xi'an, Shaanxi province, by air on Wednesday after he was bought for the colossal sum. After his safe landing, a motorcade comprising 30 Mercedes-Benz vehicles escorted the canine to his new digs."
• China and U.S.: Tire-d of Fighting [Forbes] "There was a time not too long ago when little seemed more important in U.S.-China relations than the politics of trade -- when a dispute over steel tariffs or the value of Chinese currency would bring out fire-breathers on either side of the Pacific. Now we'll find out if that time finally has passed. By Thursday Sept 17th, President Obama will take up the first big China trade issue of his presidency: tires, as in the cheap Chinese tires that millions of Americans have on their cars. Obama must decide whether to impose a tariff of as high as 55 percent that has been recommended to him by the U.S. International Trade Commission."
• High hurdles for China's commercial aviation ambitions [Reuters] "As Boeing and Airbus grapple with problems from global recession to manufacturing glitches, a longer-term worry looms: China's ambition to compete in the aerospace business. Beijing has declared its goal to manufacture large passenger jets with more than 150 seats and freighters capable of handling over 100 tonnes of cargo, with the explicit aim of taking on Boeing and Airbus."

This new finding on the domestication of canines, published in the New York Times, explains so much. Stockholm researchers have found that wolves may have first been tamed for their meat. And the place that first decided our four-legged friends were probably tasty? Southern China. How did scientists come across this factoid? Usually the region with the greatest amount of genetic diversity is the point of origin, since a species loses diversity as it spreads. That place is Southern China. Also, dog bones with cut marks have been found at archaeological sites in the area. Like with any scientific theory, there are a lot of caveats - "genomic archaeology" is an incredibly new field, many think diversity is just as high in African village dogs and there's the possibility that dogs were domesticated at a different site and then spread to everywhere but China. But isn't it kind of funny to think that, even 10,000 years ago, China was chomping on stir-fried Fido?

Dog owners watch out! According to Second Chance Animal Aid, Shanghai authorities are planning a dog cull from July 27 to September 15. Between 4 to 9pm each of those days, officers will send teams out onto streets and compounds to hunt for unlicensed dogs. They aren't very forgiving - at least not when its an ayi walking your prized pups - so please get your dog licensed immediately or, if you have one, carry your license everywhere. We nearly had a German Shepherd put down in front of his owner during our Independence Day party (he didn't have a license) and we don't want to experience that scare again.

Early last Sunday morning, a 29-year-old female worker was mauled to death by two big dogs in nearby Nanjing. Most frighteningly, over ten bystanders watched without doing a single thing.

Get ready to say goodbye to Fido... if he's the second dog you have.

The Shanghai Daily reports that in Luwan, people who want to raise dogs will only be allowed to do so pending the agreement of their neighbors. Here's what they say:

The pilot program has been launched in the district in a bid to avoid neighborhood disputes caused by dogs, the district's public security bureau director said yesterday.

Continue reading "Dog license hearing for pet owners in Luwan district"

This weekend, support both your local amateur artists and Shanghai's favorite pet charity with a fun lunch at Café DuMonde 咖啡杜梦in Pudong. Second Chance Animal Aid (SCAA) will be holding the awards ceremony for their art contest there on Saturday, April 25.

While we will never fully understand why anyone would buy a living creature from a guy with a cage standing on a street corner, apparently it happens... And worse, it apparently happens enough for there to be a term for the pets that you get - "one week-ers": about how long your brand new puppy will last before it croaks out its final bark.

Of all the things to take issue with about the streets of Shanghai, it seems like the worst nuisance to Shanghai families are “pets piddling in public,” according to Shanghai Daily. Yep, pets letting loose their bowels ranked higher than illegal street vendors, spitting, graffiti and noise. As one university student put it, “Letting pets urinate or defecate in public deprives the animals of self-respect. A true animal lover wouldn't allow that to happen.” We don't know about that - our pets never seemed to mind. And besides, don't people let their kids do that here?

Second Chance Animal Aid, that awesome organization that helps stray or abandoned pets find loving homes in Shanghai needs you... to get creative! They're calling all artists - of any age - to submit work for the 2009 SCAA Art Contest.

We've all seen the numerous documentaries about baby pandas at the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuary, and it was only a matter of time before some of us decided we absolutely must have one. Of course, it's not like you can just go out and buy an endangered species, so we suppose we're going to have to go the shanzhai route like this entrepreneurial pet owner. We're gonna call it "Pandog."

This warning may have come a little too late for some of you but the story needs to go out anyhow. The dog you see on the right, Addie, which belongs to Ryan McLaughlin (who also writes LostLaowai and CNet Asia's The Tech Dynasty) has just died from contact with aflatoxin-contaminated Optima dog food. Aflatoxicity leads to rapid liver failure and kills 80% of all dogs afflicted with it.

• Take note, all you kinky bastards out there. Novelty chocolate body spreads manufactured in Zhongshan, Guangdong and sold in sex shops across Britain have been found to contain melamine. In New Zealand, chocolate body pens and spreads have also been taken off the shelves. Edible toys from your local sex store are not a good idea. Make a trip to the organic food store instead.
• In Korea, melamine has been found in processed egg products from China such as duck’s yolk powder, egg power, albumen power and yolk liquid. Authorities have ordered the immediate destruction of 23.2 tons currently held by importers.
• 2 more made-in-China biscuit products manufactured under the Korean brand Lotte have been found to contain melamine in the Philippines.

Making it to the front page of Youku, the clip has been viewed 1.3 million times and garnered close to 10,000 comments in less than a day. Another clip uploaded by another eyewitness shows a huge crowd gathering to behold this most loyal companion.

Pups in the PRC may have a rough time of it this summer, at least those in Beijing who are used to a diet of Royal Canin dog food. The International Center for Veterinary Services announced today that because of restrictions on non-Beijing registered vehicles entering the city as of July 1, the specialty dog food brand would not make it into the city until after the Olympics. Whether humans have the same mark-ups, hassle and unavailability to face for their own products remains to be seen as traffic restrictions and security measures get beefed up in coming weeks.

"Doggie cops snatched a bunch of unlicensed dogs from owners in my courtyard in a sting op this AM. Self-important JERKS. " [Source]

Cyber dissident Wang Dejia was arrested for "subverting state secrets" (what else?), which means penning too many articles critical of the government. Some of those critical essays pertained to the upcoming summer Olympics:

In recent months, Wang also gave an interview to the Epoch Times, a media group backed by the banned sect F@lun G0ng, in which he claimed the Olympics would exacerbate the sufferings of Chinese people and leave them "living like dogs and pigs."

Continue reading "Beijing Olympics News: State secrets and Spielberg"

Here, Shanghai, were your favourite stories for the month of November:

Déjà vu all over again? Here it is once more, Shanghaiist's nearly quarterly review the Douban book Top Ten List: Annie Baby - "Sunian Jinshi" (Beijing-based author, photographer and blogger who writes about love and self-exploration in the big city.) JK Rowling - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (Official Chinese version, published by the People's Literature Publishing House.) Markus Zusak - "The Book Thief" (Australian author of Austrian-German heritage writes a WWII book...

Shanghai-based Scandinavian photog 2 dogs began yesterday bright and early to bring us the action from the 2007 Toray Cup Shanghai International Marathon which saw 20,000 runners from 46 countries and regions gather here. The run flagged off at 7:30am. Some runners did the full 42 kilometre marathon, others did the 21 kilometre half marathon, and yet others chose to do the 4.5 kilometre fun run. The Toray Cup has been held in Shanghai since...

A prominent former Thai senator accused of sex crimes against four underage girls was sentenced to 36 years in prison on Tuesday, when an appeals court stiffened the sentence of a lower court.

Forgive us, but we enjoy watching a game of American football every now and then (yes, even after that ugly display in London). Last year, we got in the habit of watching the NFL's Sunday and Monday night games on Monday and Tuesday morning here in Shanghai while we answered emails, fed the dogs and did other important things (we watched on ESPN Asia via our Filipino satellite system). Right now, for example, we'd be...

Have you ever walked down Nanjing Dong Lu and wondered, "What idiots buy those plastic wind-up tops that shoot out laser lights and play annoying music?" Well, now you have your answer: Us. We have our reasons: We're suckers for toys.We wanted to see what our dogs thought of it.They are cheap (10-15 RMB).The song it plays is "Axel F."Yes, Axel F! Anyway, the embedded video shows you what the top looks and sounds like...

From 2 dogs: Nokia's flagship store on the Nanjing Lu pedestrian shopping street opens this Saturday, on 27 Oct.

Defying Chinese criticism and pressure, Chancellor Angela Merkel met the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, on Sunday in Berlin, becoming the first German chancellor to do so, despite warnings from Beijing that it could damage economic contacts.

The emergence of China as a commercial superpower is, by some way, the most important economic phenomenon of our time. In the last few years, analysts of the global economy have had to rewrite their computer models and recalibrate their slide rules to cope with the People's Republic.

During her speech at a conference on quality and safety issues held on Thursday, Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi described a new four-month nationwide campaign to improve the quality of goods and food safety as a "special battle" to ensure the people's health and interests and maintain a good image of Chinese products.

What's happening now: The Thai Food Festival is currently running in Shanghai through September 9th at four Thai restaurants that have received the official "Thai Select" designation from the Thai government. Organized by the Commercial Section of the Royal Thai Consulate General, Baan Thai, Lan Na Thai, Ma Boon Krong and Simply Thai will aim to present dishes that represent the four regional cuisines of Thailand.