How sad
24 October 2005
This is what Chinese people who visit Fire Island (火烧屿) in Xiamen find entertaining: domestic cat breeds doing stupid circus tricks.
If you visit the Flickr set on my visit to Fire Island, you’ll also see a cat jumping through a hoop of fire. There was also a bear, goat, and monkey doing silly stunts. We didn’t stick around to see the pig (I hear it gets beaten, but I can’t corroborate).
I was quite sickened by the way they were throwing the cats around. When they’re not performing, they share a partitioned cage with parrots and monkeys (how fucked up). There were many other animals caged in this ‘zoo’, and it made me feel sad for how little regard the Chinese have for animals (as someone remarked, they care so little for humans, what kindness is left for animals?).
Note: the animals do not look underfed nor fearful of the trainers. I just wonder what kind of inducement a cat needs to leap through a (small) hoop that’s in flames, as well as how many cats they went through before they found one that would do it.
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Nice trip? You should work for the "peoples travel department" as a travel correspondent encouraging travel to Fire Island. Very upbeat insight…and you have nothing to say about the entrepreneurial spirit of the ring master? Did you give him any money so that he could by more housing for his workers? SHAME!
fred in seattle
Comment by fred — 24 October 2005 @ 5:18 pm
I coulda given him some cash so they could buy better uniforms.
Comment by Andrea — 25 October 2005 @ 10:21 am
Simple: Give them a special treat at the end of the hoop. One of my former cats learnt most of his tricks thanks to my parents’ endless supply of shrimp. :) (I’m sure that the cats also learn to jump through the hoop when it’s not burning first, then with a small fire, then with a larger one.)
Comment by Alai — 8 November 2005 @ 12:15 pm