Date: 13th Feb, 2008
Time: From 12noon
Venue: Outisde the Chinese Consulate, 55 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh EH12 5QG

We have stopped collecting signatures, please email the Chinese Consulate directly edinburgh_chineseconsulate@mfa.gov.cn

Letter To The Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Edinburgh

To The Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Edinburgh
55 Corstorphine Road,
Edinburgh EH12 5QG

Dear Madam,
Animal abuse is on the rise in China and China has no laws against it. In the absence of any legislation or government control, animals in China are subject to the most extreme forms of abuse. Until China takes this assault on animals seriously and enacts robust animal protection laws, we will boycott all Chinese goods and travel.

The fur industry is one of the world's cruelest, and China is the source of most of the world's fur products. Investigations of fur farms in China have exposed shocking methods of trapping, transportation, confinement and killing. The species being used include not only typical sources of fur such as rabbits, foxes, minks and raccoons, but also domestic dogs and cats, whose furs are often being deliberately mislabeled and exported as fur from other species. More than 40 million animals are killed each year for their fur.

The treatment of the Chinese farm animals is no better - one Chinese official notes that the country's outbreak of the pig-borne streptococosis was linked to the "foul environment" in which the pigs were raised. The disease eventually killed an estimated 40 people and resulted in the preventive slaughter of many pigs.

An increasing number of people are now beginning to boycott China including celebrities like Paul McCartney who have refused to perform in China. A large number of Chinese citizens and residents are also deeply distressed and strongly against the animal abuse horrors in China. Animal cruelty exists in all nations. What separates China is its acceptance of barbarity, torture and gruesome violence against its weakest and most innocent members. It is time for China to recognize non-human animals as sentient, living beings that deserve certain rights of their own. It is time for China to put an end to their nightmare.

At a minimum, we ask that China:
- Ban the live skinning of any animal;
- Ban the trade in dog and cat fur;
- Ban the trade in dog and cat meat;
- Ban the trade in bear bile;
- Ban all forms of cruelty to animals.
-Open up the fur animal farms for investigation

In protest at China's reluctance to act against the horrific treatment of animals, an international day of protest will take place in front of Chinese embassies and consulates worldwide on the 13th of Feburary, 2008. In Edinburgh, Scotland, compassionate members of the public from all over the country will stage a protest outside the Chinese Consulate to raise awareness and to urge the Chinese Government to introduce strict legislations.

With the eyes of the world now firmly on China, we are hoping the government will use this opportunity to commit to a timetable for ending the extreme, systematized animal abuse and introduce legislation to act now on its pledge to improve animal welfare and immediately implement the proposed protection laws.

We urge you to support the campaign and take action to put an end to the cruelty inflicted on the animals in China.
We look forward to hearing from you,

John Patrick
1World Scotland, Scotland
www.oneworldscotland.co.uk

Ada Blair
Edinburgh, Scotland

Belinda Wright
Wildlife Protection Society of India

Ada Blair
Edinburgh, Scotland

Daria James
Bathgate, Scotland

Debra Grossman
Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Denise Thompson
England

Varda Mehrotra
Edinburgh the Fur Free City, Scotland
www.edinburghfurfreecity.co.uk

Hilke Van Hove
Holland

Jarek Zawisza
Edinburgh, Scotland

Julie & Jim Martin-Nichols
Cairndow, Argyll, Scotland

John A J. Veitch
Dunblane, Scotland

Katy Lonsdale
Edinburgh, UK

Lalit Kumar
India

Dr. M.S. Khurana
Canada

Nancie Barnett, NP MSN
Pacific Palisades, CA USA

Norma McNaught
Glasgow, Scotland

Penny Veitch
Dunblane, Scotland

Ruth Eisenbud
Cambridge, Ma USA

Rukmani Haldea
Principal Secretary, Forests, India

Sylvia Johnston Mccosh
Maybole, Scotland

Sue Oliver
Dirleton, East Lothian, Scotland

Wendy Brown
Glasgow, Scotland