Would your dog survive Beijing?‏

On Friday 15th August Naturewatch’s Director, John Ruane and I made our way to Downing Street to hand over our petition: Animal Cruelty in China, which received support from a massive 38,217 people.
Incredibly, these 38,217 signatures were gathered in just 2 months, a majority of which were collected using the traditional paper method by thousands of compassionate and loyal supporters of Naturewatch. Alongside this, the budding online community also did a fantastic job of circulating the petition to all corners of the globe via the internet.
Thank you to everyone! Your enthusiasm and compassion has clearly highlighted the huge public concern for the millions of animals in China.
The UK government has developed a strong relationship with the Chinese President and boasts the most scrupulous of animal protection laws. On these grounds, Naturewatch, together with 38,217 members of the public and a high number of MPs stand united, urging the UK Prime Minister to raise the issue of animal welfare with the Chinese President during his visit to Beijing for the closing ceremony of the Olympics.
Having lobbied the UK Government on this issue, we now plan to broaden the campaign and have turned our attention to the European Parliament and the European Commission. At present we are working to rally support from MEPs throughout the EU with the aim of building yet a greater alliance to put pressure on the Chinese authorities to improve their currently unacceptable animal welfare standards.
The cruel and inhumane treatment of animals in China is notorious and widely deplored. Whilst we are aware of the challenging road that lies ahead, our determination to see an end to animal cruelty in China will continue to drive us towards our goal of working with the Chinese government to introduce animal protection laws.
Would your dog survive Beijing?

Imagine this. You've a nice home, a good job, and your dog is healthy and enjoying family life. All is well, until you hear this news:
"Local authorities have been given the power to enter city homes and seize any dogs that are over 35cm (13.8") tall as they are deemed to be dangerous. Owners have two choices; either hand over their over-sized dogs or move to a different city."
This is what happened in Beijing, and as a result, countless families live in fear of their ‘large’ dogs being discovered by the Beijing authorities and subsequently killed; some are even beaten to death in front of their owners. Read more >>
Popular breeds such as Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Fox Terriers, even Cocker Spaniels are forcibly taken from families and killed.
To raise awareness, and to demonstrate how potentially damaging this law could be, we want to illustrate how many pet dogs around the world wouldn't survive the Beijing regulations. This is an opportunity to share our favourite stories, whilst enlightening China to how much joy medium and large dogs bring into our lives. Read more >>

To take part please e-mail Jennie on jennierudd@naturewatch.eu with the following:
Your dog’s name.
Your dog’s breed.
Your dog’s height.
A story to illustrate your dog’s loving character and/or intelligence.
A photograph – no more than 50KB
Photos, details and stories will published on the Spotlight on China website.