April 2008
Spic-and-Span Beijing Means Death for Thousands of Cats
In anticipation of the Olympic Games this August, Beijing is making a city-wide effort to clean up the area. The normally smog-ridden city is taking a stand on air pollution, forcing contaminating factories to shut down or relocate until after the Games, limiting drivers to only three days per week on the roads, and cutting the cost of underground transportation fares to keep people off buses. In an effort to make the people of Beijing more appealing to international visitors, taxi drivers are required to complete training on being polite; a city-wide “courtesy campaign” is underway, instructing residents to smile and be well-mannered; and the homeless are being moved to out-of-town camps until after the Games.
…but what about the approximately 500,000 cats currently residing in Beijing?
By order of Beijing’s agricultural bureau director, stray cats must be captured and removed from the streets by the end of June so the city looks its best for the August G ...
