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In moments of frustration and anger, many of us demonize an entire country when we learn about the atrocities they commit against animals, but those feelings are misguided. Only a small percentage of people in any country participate in the abuse, and most are probably unaware. In addition, whatever country we happen to call home is probably committing abuses that are every bit as bad, so why point a finger?  Every nation is culpable:

The French insert tubes down the throats of ducks and force feed them:

The Spanish set some bulls on fire and chase others through city streets:

photo: Jose Jordan/AFP/Getty Images

The Chinese skin animals alive for fur:

Americans lasso young animals, wrestle them to the ground and twist their necks at rodeos:

Canadians club baby seals:

Africans tear the tusks out of elephants’ faces:

Photo: Mark Deeble & Victoria Stone

Australians hack flesh out of sheep to keep insects out of their wool:

Mexicans stab bulls to death to cheering crowds:

The Danish drive pilot whales into the shore and butcher them:

Photo: Sea Shepherd

The Japanese shoot harpoons with explosives into protected whales and serve animals at restaurants who are still alive:

Photo: sundayworld.com

This list goes on. Instead of vilifying entire countries, which does nothing to help their animals, we should target our anger – and energy – toward those who commit the atrocities and the authorities who have the power to stop them.

Using social media, Chinese animal rights activists recruited “thousands” of volunteers to rescue 2,400 dogs on their way to the butcher after spotting the five slaughter-bound trucks on a highway near Beijing. According to the NY Times, the activists and volunteers were “able to surround the trucks, preventing their escape.” Even though dog slaughter is legal in China, the police allowed the activists to take possession of the dogs because many were companion animals who had been kidnapped, and most did not have the proper paperwork.

Photo: Susan Wang

We are so accustomed to vilifying China for being the world’s biggest consumer and/or supplier of fur, shark fins and ivory that we forget to acknowledge the activists who are moving mountains to help animals in China. Providing food, water, medicine and housing to 2,400 dogs on a moment’s notice is a breathtaking feat. Can you imagine if we tried to rescue the thousands of abused chickens stacked in cages in Brooklyn during Kaporos, the pre-Yom Kippur ritual in which religious Jews swing chickens around their heads to transfer their sins to the chickens before slaughtering them? We’d be all be thrown in jail.

According to the NY Times, China’s FDA will stop mandating animal tests on some cosmetics, including shampoos and certain skin-care products, if the manufacturers can assess risk using other methods, such as evaluating  existing data on the ingredients.  More than 50 activists celebrated in the streets in the city of Dalian in a rally organized by the Humane Society International, one of the NGOs behind the Be Cruelty-Free campaign in China. As many as 300,000 rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and other animals are used to test cosmetics in China every year.

Animals used in experiments are among the most tortured on the planet. Just imagine spending your entire life in a cage and being pinned down and having chemicals forced down your throat or injected into your eyes. In the U.S., the Humane Cosmetics Act would prohibit animal testing for cosmetics manufactured or sold in the country. Please ask your U.S. Representative to cosponsor this bill.

According to the NY Times, a city in southern China is “trying to lower the profile of its much-criticized dog-eating festival. The feasting is expected to go ahead as scheduled this weekend, but local officials have taken steps to deflect outside attention from the annual event, at which thousands of dogs are consumed.”  The article goes on to say that, “the dog meat trade has become a key target for Chinese animal rights advocates. In 2011, a group blocked a truck transporting nearly 500 dogs to a slaughterhouse and paid $18,000 to free them.”

Photo: China Network/Reuters

This NY Times article provides us with a hook to ask our dog-loving, meat eating friends why we should be any more disturbed by people eating dogs instead of pigs, cows and chickens.  As Mercy For Animals asks in its  campaign, “Why love one and eat the other?”  That said, ending or compromising any animal eating event is a victory, especially for the victims.