06 May 2011

Living amphibians sealed in plastic

Live turtles, young giant salamanders, and fish sealed in plastic pouches to be sold as keychains are displayed at a roadside stall in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, April 12, 2011. Each keychain is sold for 10 yuan (USD $ 1.50). The vendor claims a special liquid inside provides oxygen and nutrients for the creatures.
So sad.

Credit AP, via The Atlantic's In Focus photoblog.

12 comments:

  1. I wonder how long these poor critters stay alive in their bags.

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  2. China can't even manage human rights. Do we really expect them to treat animals with any kindness?

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  3. Also...turtles are reptiles.

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  4. Sometimes ya get to thinking how The East has so many things better sorted out than The West as far as lifestyle, philosophy, culture, etc.
    And then you discover what they do to animals alone, and you slowly realize what a pathetic, vile, deplorable lot the whole of humanity really is.

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  5. Reason # 24 why I do not make fun of PETA.

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  6. Empathy for living creatures isn't high on the list for much of humanity. Isn't even on the list. How incredibly sad.

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  7. I wouldn't be so smug. The West doesn't exactly have a stellar human rights record either.

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  8. Are we seriously judging all of China from one street vendor?

    Seriously?

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  9. DubyaD, I can find waaaay more if you really want justification. That guy who dragged his naked 14 year old son down the street as a punishment springs to mind.

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  10. Disgusting. I wonder many minutes the turtles survive in there before drowning?

    Steve and DubyaD-
    After living in Beijing for two months, I can tell you that the idea of 'the correct way to treat an animal' is very different over there- particularly if it's one that would live in a cage. Here, it happens behind closed doors because it's condemned by society. Not so much there. It's common to see people selling drugged or sick puppies, animals in cages so small they can barely move, chipmunks frantically running back and forth in cages...and all this with no water as they sit out in the hot sun for half the day in summer. Even an educated faculty member in an academic institute had a bird alone in a cage with no toys and piles of poop on the floor that had built up for who knows how long. If all that were out in the open here, the animals would be rescued and the owners charged with abuse or neglect.

    That being said, there are plenty of Chinese who take wonderful care of their pets. One of the first things I noticed walking around was how many happy little dogs were running around all over the place with their owners.

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  11. With a one child policy, human life isn't even sacred.

    Animals have no hope.

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