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Revered
dogs under threat in Tibet
by Nick Mays
THE
HOLY dogs of Lhasa are under threat of extinction in their own
country due to a bureaucratic dictate foistered upon the Tibetan
population by the Communist Chinese authorities.
The Lhasa apso, like all dogs in the capital Lhasa and throughout
Tibet, must be registered by law or destroyed.
"To ensure that dogs are kept in confinement we have introduced
a new licensing system," said bureaucrat Zhang Maofeng.
"So far virtually no one has complied, so to ensure that
the environment is properly regulated we have ensured there
are no wild dogs anymore."
Thousand of dogs have been destroyed under the harsh new rule
– on strays and unregistered pets alike.
To practising Tibetan Buddhists – who make up about 40
per cent if Lhasa’s population –the destruction of
strays is a sacrilege, which violates the cycle of reincarnation.
Tibetan Buddhists believe that the soul, especially the soul
of a high lama, is frequently reborn in a dog as the last stage
before becoming human.
"We regard this as being as bad as killing a human being,
because the dog is nearest to us in reincarnation," said
Setrar Tsering, a Lhasa resident. "Dogs are very faithful
to us and we are very fond of dogs. Even people on pilgrimage
will bring food to feed the strays along the way."
The dogs gave been fed by generations of residents, despite
their reputation as being viciously territorial and, in many
cases, rabid. The Chinese authorities see dogs in Tibet in the
same way as they view them throughout China - as a threat to
public safety and "harmful to the image of the city".
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