# 50000 dogs = 3 Humans, the new Chinese math. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 1, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912 "2006-08-01T17:45:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912/81 "2006-08-06T14:08:07Z")
[QUOTE=Monty] Update to the issue: In the South China Morning Post, there was an article about this very thing. Said article mentioned that one method of killing the dogs is to bury them alive _en masse_. If one accepts the need for eliminating the animals in the area, there is still no reason to eradicate them in a cruel and inhumane manner. [/QUOTE] There could be if time is of the essence and “cruel and inhumane” is the most efficient, economic method. And obviously, there is a vast cultural difference in what is deemed too cruel or inhumane. Honestly, I don’t like the idea of burying alive. But is it so different than other popular methods of killing animals such as drowning in water and suffocating in carbon dioxide? Both still utilized in the West by government authorities as well as citizens. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912/82 "2006-08-06T14:40:41Z")
Yeah, I’d venture to say that burying alive is very different. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912/83 "2006-08-06T17:27:47Z")
[QUOTE=Monty] Yeah, I’d venture to say that burying alive is very different. [/QUOTE] I’d agree with you. That’s just totally uncalled for. How hard can be to gas them with engine exhaust or even just smack them in the neck with a hatchet? I’d certainly prefer either of those to being buried alive. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912/84 "2006-08-06T18:14:21Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Also, by reputation the Chinese government are quite thrifty with their use of ammunition - allegedly they bill the family of executed convicts for the bullet used to shoot them. [/QUOTE] I thought that a symbolic gesture rather than done out of an actual bullet shortage. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912/85 "2006-08-06T18:51:14Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] But this IS a human rights abuse-imagine watching your pets being taken away from you and being BEATEN to death. [/QUOTE] Wait a minute, how is beating a dog to death a violation of human rights? Which article do you find that in? [http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html](http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912/86 "2006-08-06T19:35:10Z")
[QUOTE=Carol Stream] Wait a minute, how is beating a dog to death a violation of human rights? Which article do you find that in? [http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html](http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html) [/QUOTE] Read my post again-I said, is it not cruel to take a beloved companion away from a child and BEAT IT TO DEATH right in front of said child? ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912/87 "2006-08-06T19:51:04Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Read my post again-I said, is it not cruel to take a beloved companion away from a child and BEAT IT TO DEATH right in front of said child? [/QUOTE] I did read your post. Yes, it is cruel “to take a beloved companion away from a child and BEAT IT TO DEATH right in front of said child”. It doesn’t rise to the level of an abuse of human rights, however. And you are demeaning actual human rights abuses by trying to make a comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912/88 "2006-08-07T04:17:53Z")
[QUOTE=Carol Stream] I did read your post. Yes, it is cruel “to take a beloved companion away from a child and BEAT IT TO DEATH right in front of said child”. It doesn’t rise to the level of an abuse of human rights, however. And you are demeaning actual human rights abuses by trying to make a comparison. [/QUOTE] I’m glad this is already in the Pit so I can tell you something. Your posting here is asinine, perhaps even jerkish. It’s a human rights abuse because it’s mental torture. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912/89 "2006-08-08T08:34:28Z")
[QUOTE=col\_10022] Aside from the economic argument, they don’t even use lethal injection for human executions (decapitation being the preferred method) [/QUOTE] Could you cite this (assuming you’re still around)? Anecdotally I’ve never heard this, and decapitation isn’t even mentioned in the [Amnesty report on China’s death penalty](http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engasa170032004). Shooting and lethal injection are, however. While it’s probably true that 50,000 dogs were cruelly slaughtered, the idea that they were all pets is stretching the truth quite a bit, IMO - pet ownership, particularly of dogs, in China is in its infancy. Also, if you’ve seen how appallingly other animals in China are treated, the dog story pales in comparison, gruesome though it is. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912/90 "2006-08-08T12:16:31Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Also, if you’ve seen how appallingly other animals in China are treated, the dog story pales in comparison, gruesome though it is. [/QUOTE] I was just watching a show on Animal Planet about “bear farming” in China. They keep bears in little cages and harvest the bile from their gall bladders for use in traditional medicines. Supposedly, this practice was started to prevent the depletion of the wild bear population. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912/91 "2006-08-08T14:03:56Z")
I think the option is to have your loved one decapitated by a big guy with a sword. Sometimes he misses the neck and just lops off the top of the head. [QUOTE=Blalron] I thought that a symbolic gesture rather than done out of an actual bullet shortage. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912/92 "2006-08-08T14:06:06Z")
[QUOTE=col\_10022] I think the option is to have your loved one decapitated by a big guy with a sword. Sometimes he misses the neck and just lops off the top of the head. [/QUOTE] Sorry, I smell bullshit. Again, can you give me a citation for this? Sounds like a conflation of ancient practices with modern ones, or confusing somewhere like Saudi Arabia with China. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912/93 "2006-08-08T14:11:21Z")
I was going on very very old information. My apologies. [QUOTE=jjimm] Could you cite this (assuming you’re still around)? Anecdotally I’ve never heard this, and decapitation isn’t even mentioned in the [Amnesty report on China’s death penalty](http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engasa170032004). Shooting and lethal injection are, however. While it’s probably true that 50,000 dogs were cruelly slaughtered, the idea that they were all pets is stretching the truth quite a bit, IMO - pet ownership, particularly of dogs, in China is in its infancy. Also, if you’ve seen how appallingly other animals in China are treated, the dog story pales in comparison, gruesome though it is. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912/94 "2006-08-08T14:12:24Z")
Once again, I was working off of decades old information. [QUOTE=jjimm] Sorry, I smell bullshit. Again, can you give me a citation for this? Sounds like a conflation of ancient practices with modern ones, or confusing somewhere like Saudi Arabia with China. [/QUOTE] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50000-dogs-3-humans-the-new-chinese-math/366912.md?page=4)