Monday June 29 - Cruelty to Animals - Qing Feng Hotel

Today we had an experience that so upset me, it deserves a separate post. We were sitting enjoying lunch in the hotel's restaurant when someone said: "They've thrown a cat in the water." I looked outside and saw a pool of murky, green, water, which looked like a swimming pool, but was probably a fish tank because of the colour of the water, but I don't really know what it was, and there, sure enough, was a tiny little cat swimming frantically around the edges trying desperately to crawl up the shier concrete sides. A group of women and men were watching and laughing. At first, I didn't realize what was going on; then I realized they were keeping the cat in the pool. I went out of the restaurant and found the door to the pool of water. Of course, no one spoke English and I didn't speak any form of Chinese, but through sign language I confirmed they had thrown the cat in and weren't about to let it out. Angrily, I told the women they were being cruel, and how would they like it if I threw them in the water. They laughed heartily thinking it was all a big joke. I went back to the restaurant and spoke with our guide. I asked him: "Why did they throw the cat in?" He said he didn't know, he didn't understand it, and he didn't want to know why. I sat down. Then I watched one of the men deliberately push the cat down as it tried to climb up the steps out of the water. Incensed, I went back out to the laughing, joking, group around the pool. Again, really angry, I told them how cruel they were being, and to pull the cat out. I understood the cat had eaten a fish. I think the fish was probably meant for cooking, not sure, there were a bunch of these sleek, blue, fish in an aquarium at one end of the pool. I went back in to the restaurant and asked our guide if there were any superstitions, cultural issues, etc. about a cat eating a fish. He said "No", and Sue Mei said "No". I sat down. I was very aware of being in a foreign country with very different cultures, etc. I reasoned all this through in my head. Then I couldn't stand it. How could a group of 10 westerners sit and watch this happening and do nothing. If I didn't react, I would be so hypacritical, apathetic, and all the worst adjectives I criticize others for being. I spoke again to our guide. I knew I was putting him in an awkward position, but he got up and went out to the pool and got the people to "fish" the cat out in a tadpole net. I relaxed. Then, as I watched, the man who pulled the cat out, took the net and trapped the cat inside it. I was up, out of my chair and heading out towards him when Ray said disbelievingly: "He's strangled the cat!" I couldn't look, I couldn't stand being anywhere near these cruel people, and I stormed out of the dining room and went back to the Truck. Eventually Ant came out and said: "The cat's alive", and Ray told me the cat did get up after a while and slink behind a bush. I have no idea whether the cat lived or died. I just know that these people, all of them, who were laughing around the pool, were being totally cruel, and from what I could fathom, for no purpose other than the cat ate a fish. Feed the cat properly and perhaps it wouldn't be so keen to eat the fish!! As you can imagine, I was really, really, upset, and whether I acted rightly or wrongly I don't care. I just care that a poor little cat was being treated most cruelly by a bunch of anger-ridden Chinese who were taking their own problems out on it. When we arrived in Beijing and were listening to the English news on CCTV9, I heard that someone has just introduced legislation for "Animal Protection" in China. So...I'm not that far out. PS: I heard another story about this hotel that turned my stomach. I crossed the parking lot at one point and saw a dwarf sweeping up. I smiled at him. He gave me a puzzled look and I thought to myself: "This person hasn't had many people smile at him." Afterwards, Olivia and I were discussing the cat episode and she told me she had seen the dwarf sweeping as well, then the next thing she saw was someone come up to him and start beating him because it seemed that he wasn't sweeping correctly....or something. Anyway, apparently someone did come out of the hotel and stop this. It seems as if there is a little pocket of cruelty around that hotel.