While I find it disgusting, I have to agree with several of the previous commentators who point out the hypocrisy of denouncing “the Chinese” while being blissfully ignorant of our own societies and practices.

Our notions of “animal rights” are quite modern. Indeed only a few decades ago, in Japan and most of the world, animals could be found live and killed in public markets, and there were shows featuring animal torture (cock-fighting, bull-fighting, etc). Even in modern societies some of these practices continue, and there are many places where animals are sacrificed as part of a religious/cultural ceremony.

Those of use who live in the age of supermarkets and pet-stores do not see the consequences of our actions, but are rather content with our sanitized version of animal cruelty. So long as the the killing is done away from our eyes it is ok, even though it is nonetheless ultimately for our enjoyment. (This isn’t to say that I’m a vegan, I’m a meat lover who often orders chicken with his salad.)

In China, like most of Asia (and farther back Europe), the modern concept of animal rights is only beginning to take root, but awareness is increasing. It’s disgusting to see that some of the commentators have taken the discussion to racist lows. It’s also strange to see that some aren’t aware that most of the developing world treats its animals with lower standards.

This is absolutely sickening. China has an abhorrent record of human rights and animal rights violations; hopefully as the country grows economically, it will develop and become more civilised in these respects.

This is not terribly different then my feeding my old pirahna live goldfish.