British Colonial Non-Interference Policy (1841-1903)

• Captain Charles Eliot (1841) - Britain's Chief Superintendent of Trade, first Hong Kong administrator
  • Declared Chinese population governed according to Chinese laws/customs except torture
  • Policy influenced by analysis of Indian Rebellion of 1857
  • British concluded social reformers pushed natives too far with top-down interventions
• Commitment to abstaining from broad social intervention in native cultural practices
• British already had taboo against eating dogs by Hong Kong colonization
  • Metropolitan Police Act 1839 banned dogs from pulling carts
  • Led to thousands of dog deaths as no longer useful as beasts of burden
  • Late Victorian period: dogs became companions rather than tools

Chinese Dog Eating Traditions

• Chinese kept some dogs as pets (Pekinese for companions)
• Others specifically raised for food (chow chow breed)
• Consumption widespread in southern China, especially Guangdong province bordering Hong Kong
• Not restricted to few individuals - vast open-air meat markets and restaurants specialized in dog meat
• Connoisseurs valued dog meat for medicinal properties
• Preferred puppy meat for tenderness, called "fragrant meat" in Cantonese
• Cantonese phrase: "when dog meat is thrice boiled even the Immortals tremble and become weak-kneed with desire"
• Cultural clash: British horrified by Chinese eating dogs, Chinese discouraged slaughter of oxen/cows for meat

Early Reform Attempts (1845-1903)

• 1845 ordinance for preserving good order and cleanliness in public areas
  • Made illegal certain ways of treating animals
  • Spottily enforced: 3 people charged in 1864, 33 per year in 1888
• Chinese found Western animal concern amusing
  • Historical case: Chinese man fined $10 for nailing rat's feet to board as warning to other rats
  • Man astonished, argued rat deserved death for household damage
  • Magistrate said should have killed instantly, not tortured
• 1903: New ordinances for better livestock treatment
  • Banned excessive crowding of cattle in transit
  • Removed sharp bamboo pens cutting animal flesh
  • Prohibited tying ducks/fowl so tightly legs broke, hung on hooks with small throat slits taking 10+ minutes to die
• 1903: Founded Hong Kong Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
  • Remained weak force with limited populace influence
  • Steadily lobbied government for stricter livestock slaughter ordinances
  • Saw amelioration of animal cruelty as European duty to "poor Chinese race"

Chinese Resistance to Animal Welfare Laws

• Chinese described ordinances as imposition on way of life
• Mainland Chinese writer from Republic of China noted Hong Kong requirements:
  • Live poultry must be carried home like holding baby
  • Holding upside down by legs forbidden, police would intervene/penalize
  • Reason: upside down holding makes poultry suffer, regarded as cruelty
• Writer noted: "colonized people under imperialism suffer more than poultry"
• Colonial Europeans made no moves toward outright banning dog/cat consumption
• Dogs/cats grouped with pigs/chickens as livestock
• Examples of cat/dog food acceptance found throughout 1900s in letters, recipes

Rabies Outbreak and 1949 Ban

• Long-standing rabies fears in Hong Kong motivated drastic government measures
• 1893 and 1926 laws required pet dogs tagged and collared
  • Untagged dogs found by police 10pm-6am shot on sight
  • Police took job with apparent vigor
  • Two Chinese women cutting grass accidentally shot by police targeting dog
  • Citizens complained police should catch thieves rather than chase/shoot unmuzzled dogs
• 1949 rabies outbreak in New Territories and Kowloon
  • 11 people died, 20 dogs infected
  • 500+ people flooded hospitals seeking treatment after suspected bites
• 3,000 dog lovers (mostly upper-class Hong Kongers of Chinese/Eurasian descent) created petition
  • Proposed control over pet killings, asserting dogs were pets
  • Described dog slaughter: stretched by extremities while alive, slowly beaten to death to preserve meat taste
  • Claimed dog eating contributed to rabies outbreak
  • Dog meat vendors searched mainland/New Territories for dogs, spreading virus
• Lower-class Chinese hated ordinance
  • Grumbled upper-class had too much time on hands
  • Argued if banning dogs, should also ban pork and chicken

Government Response and Implementation

• British colonial government agreed with petition
  • Already personally disagreed with dog eating
  • Encouraged that petitioners were Chinese
  • Had backing of upper-class Hong Kong elites
  • Also distracted by fall of Republic of China, founding of Communist People's Republic, communist army marching to Hong Kong border
• October 25, 1949: Hong Kong government prohibited killing dogs for food as part of anti-rabies campaign
• Ban continued even after outbreak controlled
• Hong Kong middle class of 1920s-30s easily accepted ban - saw dogs as friends not food
  • Class experienced West, saw Western cultural influences
• Enforcement challenges with lower classes, especially New Territories
  • Villages governed indirectly through village chieftains rather than direct government influence
• Dog meat markets regularly found throughout 1960s-70s
• Hong Kong SPCA continually prodded government for stricter enforcement
• Colonial government dodged task, saw SPCA trying to get government to do their dirty work
• Officials offered to bridge SPCA leadership directly with New Territories chieftains, but organization declined
• Cultural practice took decades to die down naturally
• Continues in certain mainland China areas

Colonial Government Reform Approach

• Dog eating episode exemplifies Hong Kong colonial government's approach to traditional Chinese practice reform
• Approach: reluctant and slow
• Personally hated dog eating but allowed until Chinese elites led petition
• Even after ban, government looked away from hinterland violations
• Favored social stability over social reform
• Similar behavior found in other Chinese cultural traditions like Muay Thai (selling daughters into domestic servitude/sexual slavery)