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 Games.  As a tactic for invoking the help of residents, local authorities are blaming cats for spreading disease throughout the population—primarily among children.  Panicked, well-meaning residents are turning their house cats out into the street to be collected and killed, thinking they are protecting their families.  Two kindergarten teachers beat six stray cats to death—including two pregnant females—for fear that the children would touch them and contract a disease.  Officials are posting notices telling residents to surrender their cats and turn in any found strays.

These cats are being caught, shipped to what are being called cat death camps, crammed into tiny cages, and…stored for two weeks before being killed.  Disease is spreading quickly among the felines, and many of them die agonizing deaths before authorities have a chance to euthanize them.  The abandoned pets suffer the most, having relied on humans for food and shelter, they are unaccustomed to the dirty, cramped, harsh conditions of the compounds.

The inhumane actions are not going unnoticed by Chinese animal welfare advocates.  There are several local residents housing hundreds of cats to keep them off the streets and away from certain death.  Animal welfare groups are trying their best to keep these cats alive, but for fear of punishment from authorities, they are hesitant to take aggressive action.  The future is bleak for these inquisitive creatures.  Beijing’s desire to be attractive to visitors is understandable, yet in their effort to polish their image for the Olympic Games, it seems the authorities in Beijing have tarnished it instead…at least in the humane eyes of those who care.