China Rabies Outbreak Triggers Second Dog Cull

A Chinese city has ordered the destruction of all dogs within a three-mile radius of a rabies outbreak - the second major cull in less than a week.

Officials in Jining, the provincial capital of Shandong province, refused to reveal how many of the city's 500,000 dogs would be killed in the latest cull, which was ordered after the deaths of 16 local people this year.

Animal rights groups have condemned the extermination campaigns, which they say are cruel, disproportionate and evidence of the failure of the country's vaccination and monitoring campaigns.

The outrage was sparked this week, when it emerged that police and public health officials in Mouding - a county in Yunnan province - clubbed, electrocuted and buried alive 50,000 dogs to control the disease. Regardless of vaccinations, no animal was spared apart from police and army dogs.

An official from Jining's centre for disease control and surveillance said: "I cannot reveal any information because this is an epidemic situation and I need authorisation to talk." But the state media said all dogs within a three-mile radius of every rabies case would be slaughtered. Sixteen villages inside the municipality have been affected by the disease.

Mad dog disease, as rabies is called in China, is the country's second deadliest pathogen after tuberculosis, killing 2,651 people in 2004. The number of cases has risen steadily in recent years because of a rise in pet ownership and an irresponsibly low - 3% - vaccination rate.

But the World Health Organisation says the recent countermeasures have been excessive. "Rabies is a big problem for China and it is one that is probably under-reported," said Roy Wadia of the UN agency's Beijing office. "But we don't encourage this sort of dramatic culling. There would be no need for it if adequate vaccination and surveillance measures were in place."

Animal rights groups have complained that the slaughter is indiscriminate. "This inhumane act has damaged China's international reputation," said He Yong, of the International Federation for Animal Welfare. "Simply killing dogs is no answer to rabies."

In the absence of a strong health system and effective monitoring and reporting of diseases, China has frequently had to resort to mass culls. The Sars outbreak in 2003 prompted the destruction of countless civet cats. The bird flu epidemic has led to the slaughter of millions of ducks and chickens.