Dog lovers accuse botanical garden

Beijing Botanical Garden yesterday claimed it has started working together with animal lovers on a more humane scheme to deal with stray dogs, after it was accused of animal abuse by dog lovers.

The alleged abuse was revealed by a woman surnamed Wang, who lives near the garden, on Sina Weibo Wednesday.

"I saw scenes in which security guards and garden staff patrolled, hunting the dogs using nets, giant clamps, and then put them, including smaller dogs, into sealed plastic bags and iron cages," Wang said.

"The dogs were screaming. The way they trapped the dogs was too violent," Wang said.

After media reports, the garden responded to the accusation on its official website Monday, saying that "the behavior used in dog hunting follows instructions issued by public security departments."

"We used professional tools for dog hunting, and the method called trap-and-hunt to catch the stray dogs," said an employee, surnamed Cheng, from the botanical garden's publicity department, yesterday.

"We didn't hurt them, and none were killed," Cheng said, adding "Our staff even bought food at their own expense to feed the dogs."

The number of stray dogs increased dramatically in recent years as a result of nearby compound demolitions.

"Dogs are abandoned by owners, who moved to urban areas, where policies on dog raising are stricter," Wang said.

Visitors, garden staff and local residents had been complaining about the dogs, Cheng said.

So far 18 dogs have been sent to the police station, he said.