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Woman Releases Cobras Into Shenzhen Park, Gets Eviscerated Online

Posted: 08/13/2014 8:00 am

live poisonous snake release shenzhen animal rightsThe release of a number of poisonous snakes by a Shenzhen woman has incurred the wrath of a number of netizens.

The woman in question posted nine pictures to her Weibo account (@郎卡卓玛) back on July 14, reports the Nandu. One of the photographs show her releasing rattlesnakes and cobras into what many netizens suspected to be a public park. The text accompanying the photo reads:

You should praise us beautiful girls and handsome boys for releasing these live snakes. The poisonous ones were all released by her. Such bravery [thumbsup.emo]

Almost a month later, the unidentified woman’s Weibo account has become very busy as a wave of netizens have come to criticize her. Yesterday at around 4pm, her posts had been forwarded some 7000 times as the outrage against her grew. Some Weibo verified users even got involved by saying that the release of poisonous snakes is a public issue.

However, the precise location of where the photographs were taken have not been verified, fueling netizen speculation. Furthermore, requests for an interview with a reporter have gone unanswered, leaving any facts to this story unconfirmed, such as whether the woman is an animal rights activist or simply someone with a grudge.

Following the outcry from netizens, the woman tried to delete her Weibo account. Later, she tried to change her name, and then later still the woman made a statement in which she apologized for her actions:

Today I have made everyone very annoyed because of myself, to which I want to express how sorry I am to all of you! However, I didn’t release poisonous snakes into a public park as everyone claims; instead, we released these animals back into the natural world. All living things are equal. These animals come from nature, and so we have let these animals go back to nature! The deletion of Weibo content was to disallow the pointless attacks that kept being made. We treat Weibo as a diary, and so with that we invite everyone to stop their speculation.

Shenzhen Police and Shenzhen Public Parks are investigating.

Southern China is home to 35 types of snakes that are venomous. These include the Chinese cobra, the king cobra, Fea’s viper, and Russell’s viper.

Annual records of snake bite fatalities in China range from 450 to over 4,000, an amount that is dwarfed by snake bite fatalities in India, Bangladesh and some African countries.

Snake bites most commonly occur in rural farming communities where workers use manual agricultural tools and walk barefoot. Unfortunately, these are also communities where access to healthcare is often limited.

live poisonous snake release animal rights

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Photos: Sina News Video

Haohao
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China Denies Killing US Pets with Tainted Dog Food

Posted: 07/3/2014 7:24 pm
dog food safety scandal chinese imports chicken jerky fda

An online warning to US pet owners issued at internetpetvet.com

China has categorically denied that Chinese-made dog food has killed hundreds of pets in the United States, reports the Beijing Morning Post.

Lu Chunming, the deputy head of the Bureau of Quality Inspection, said the US Food and Drug Administration has not fully investigated the issue, adding the US agency has criticized Chinese-made products without providing scientific proof.

Lu stated that all Chinese exported products must meet its production standards, and the quality control is even stricter for brand names exported to the US.

Lu made his comments in response to an FDA post on May 16. The FDA says that, up to now, it has received reports of some 4,800 cases of dog illnesses in the USA, of which 1,000 have died as a result. The FDA states all illnesses have to do with a consuming a specific type of chicken jerky that originates from China.

dog food safety scandal chinese imports chicken jerky fda

An online warning to US pet owners issued at internetpetvet.com

However, the FDA is leaving room for error, stating it was “not able to identify an exact cause-and-effect nature of that relationship” with the chicken jerky treats. The agency says it has been working with Chinese authorities and scientists to resolve the problem.

Dogs that have eaten the contaminated product will exhibit the following symptoms: decreased appetite, decreased activity, vomiting, diarrhea, sometimes with blood; increased water consumption and/or increased urination.

dog food safety scandal chinese imports chicken jerky fda

Lu contradicts the FDA’s findings, emphasizing that neither any complaints nor disputes have ever been brought up before, and that trade between the countries has developed smoothly.

All the same, US media reports warning against the dangers of Chinese imports have been published before. The FDA has been warning the US public about Chinese pet food since 2007.

Even though Lu is adamant about the high safety regulations of Chinese exported goods, Lu doesn’t have the confidence of Chinese pet owners who have taken to importing dog food from the USA to feed to their pets.

Photo: the internet pet vet, News Inferno

Haohao
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Snake on a Bed: 2.5 Meter-Long Python Found in Dongguan Bedroom

Posted: 06/10/2014 10:38 am

Few people want to get out of bed in the morning and, as discovered by one Dongguan woman, neither did the 2.5 meter-long python she found nestled under her sheets.

python dongguan burmese At around 6pm on June 6 during Dragon Boat Festival, a woman surnamed Wang went to her second-story bedroom in Shanmei New Town, Dongguan to find the enormous snake in her bed underneath the covers. Without skipping a beat, Wang’s nephew, Haibo, snapped a photo of the 12.5 kilogram snake and posted it on Weibo.

During an interview with the Yangcheng Evening Report, Wang Haibo confirmed the story to be true. When the family discovered the snake, Wang took charge claiming he was taught how to capture snakes while serving with the army in Hainan Province.

Wang crept up slowly and grabbed the python by the head. The snake then began coiling around his wrist. Wang then asked for a bag to put the snake in, but there wasn’t one in the house. It wasn’t until a neighbor showed up with a cloth bag a half hour later that the python was subdued.

READ: Fearless 13-Year Old In Dongguan Sleeps with 220lbs Python,
Parents Encourage It

Unfortunately, this report doesn’t explain a few things: why a Dongguan woman would use bedcovers during this sweltering heat, why “snake capturing” is a skill taught in the army (Metal Gear Solid 3?), or what happened during the 30 minutes between the time the snake wrapped itself around Wang’s wrist and when the bag finally arrived.

However, Wang explains with artful precision the reason why you should be afraid to sleep  ever again the python was found in his aunt’s bed:

It has been raining continuously lately, and the heat during Dragon Boat Festival has been tremendously hot and stuffy. It may be that this big snake may have felt it was too hot, and crawled up from the sewers and into the house.

Up from the sewers and into a second-floor bedroom? Is there any correlation with the board game Snakes and Ladders?

Burmese pythons are indigenous to Guangdong Province and Southeast Asia, and some residents keep the snakes as pets. Last June, Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou became the new home of six albino Burmese pythons.

 Photo: Yangcheng Evening Report

Haohao
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Foreigner Caught Smuggling Live Birds in His Jeans at Guangzhou Airport [UPDATE]

Posted: 06/9/2014 8:00 am

bird smuggle guangzhou airport

Never underestimate the extent a pet owner will go to shield his beloved pet from Guangzhou’s air pollution.

On June 6, Guangzhou Baiyuan Airport security guards discovered a very creative way of smuggling by finding two live birds in a pair of jeans.

A foreigner was at the security check before boarding a plane to Singapore when security guards noticed the cuffs of his trouser legs were suspiciously bloated. A search revealed two hidden birds wrapped in white cloth, Yangcheng Evening News reported.

When asked the motive behind the smuggling operation, the foreigner said he was planning to take his birds to Singapore due to Guangzhou’s bad air quality. Unfortunately, the airline he chose does not allow live animals on board, and the poor guy now has to get one of his friends to send the birds to Singapore for him, hopefully with less hassle.

For now, his two little birds have to endure more of Guangzhou’s bad air.

UPDATE: 6:38pm June 6: The foreigner suspected of smuggling in this story has been identified as 43 year-old Naum Pokrovsky, reports the Moscow Times.

Home page and content page image: Yangcheng Evening News 

Haohao
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Shenzhen finding new ways to keep streets clean: now building public toilets for pets

Posted: 01/30/2013 7:00 am

An activity was held to promote “the civilized raising of pets” in Dongmen Cultural Square in Shenzhen’s Luohu District Monday. At the meeting, it was declared that Luohu District would lead the way in building public toilets for pets to help keep the streets clean, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reports.

The paper revealed that the district has already built 80 of the toilets and has so far installed 30 for a trial period. The drive started at the end of last year ahead of the city’s new civility laws coming into effect.

Each toilet will have an area of about 1 square metre and be located on the greenbelts by the sides of roads and in parks.

By the end of this year, the district hopes to have over 1,000 of the toilets.

As always, netizens reactions were mixed. One Sina Weibo user resented having his tax money used to help dog owners. Another said the reason why there was so much dog feces on the streets was that dog owners were all selfish and immoral. Another supported the move but hoped that dog owners would have the consideration to cooperate.

Haohao
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Drunk woman passes out in the street, pet dogs protect her

Posted: 02/13/2012 8:15 am

On February 4 in Guangzhou’s Yuexiu district, a woman walking alone but too intoxicated to walk any further, passed out on the sidewalk and began vomiting. The two snow-white pomeranians accompanying her at the time then stood guard to protect their owner. New Express was tipped off and got a reporter to the scene.

The newspaper talked to one of the passersby, Ms. Tang, who came across the woman at around 5:30 p.m. that day, finding her already lying on the pavement and struggling, unsuccessfully to stand up. Soon after, the woman vomited off to her side.

“She smelled strongly of alcohol, it looked as though she’d had too much to drink.” Tang called 120.

Meanwhile, the two dogs refused to let anyone approach their owner, even biting at police who arrived shortly after. “Pedestrians walked up,” Tang said, “and the dogs stared at them until they moved away.”

The woman’s two dogs then became the story, online and in print. Further, other bystanders reported that once an ambulance arrived and emergency care attendants sought to help the woman up, her dogs finally backed down, seemingly aware of what was going on.

The UK’s Daily Mail has reported on one study which found that a dog’s IQ is approximately equal to that of babies between 6 months and 2 years of age. While it might help to bring your dogs along on your next bender, toddlers are best left at home.

Haohao
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