Dogs in China have traditionally been kept for herding, food
and guard duty and viewed as dirty and willing to eat anything, including
refuge and garbage. In the old days they were allowed to run loose in the
countryside and were periodically collected and slaughtered. Dogs were shunned
during the Mao era when one of the worst insults someone you could call someone
was a running dog.
Village dogs are often sorry-looking animals. Skittish, mangy
and lacking in self confidence, they aimlessly scavenge and drift around,
cowering and darting around with their tails between their legs, being shooed
from one place to the next. Beijing is relatively dog-free. Visitors rarely
step on dog poop as they do in other cities. During its campaign to host the
Olympics, members of the Beijing delegation accused its rival Paris of being
too dangerous and dirty because there were so many dogs running around.
"It's plain to see that wild dogs and mad dogs have
become a potential drag on Paris' bid to host the Olympics. Wild dogs, mad dogs
run wild in the street. Paris must handle its dogs before hosting the
games." In response the Paris Olympic committee said, "Dogs are dogs.
They do the same things everywhere...It's just that there are no dogs in China
because they eat them."
