Chinese Government Sued Over Dog Height Censorship

Googling Yourself writes "More than 30,000 censors are employed in China to monitor the Internet, so it was no surprise when censors deleted a posting by Chen Yuhua protesting Beijing municipal government's regulations barring any dog over 14 inches high and restricting each family to only one dog. The surprise (reports the Washington Post) was when Chen studied China's civil code and marched into court with a lawsuit, only the second time that a Chinese citizen has gone to court over party censorship. 'I was very careful to follow the correct procedure,' Chen said in an interview, while pointing at the official legal manual on his dining room table. On December 14 Chen was told by clerks that the district court, after referring to higher-level judges for advice, had decided to reject the case. The next step, Chen said, is an appeal to the Supreme Court."

Heightism

[frisket (149522)]

I'd ban any dog under 14 inches high...

Re:Heightism

[aicrules (819392)]

I'd just want them de-barked. Yes, big dog barks can become annoying to over time, but with a small dog the bark is ear piercingly deadly right from the get go. I have a "small" dog (westie) and he only has the ability to bark still because I'm so fond of him now. He didn't bark at ALL for the first month we had him. I was worried for him, but then he finally started and I was momentarily relieved. Then I had to teach him the command "NO BARK!" Gah...YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP

Re:Heightism

[dattaway (3088)]

This is one way to debark a small yipper:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tj_Tr7w8d4 [youtube.com]

Re:

[jacquesm (154384)]

thank you, that made my day :)

please mod parent into the stratosphere.

Re:Heightism

[TitusC3v5 (608284)]

I prefer this version [youtube.com], myself.

Re:Heightism

[MightyYar (622222)]

In all seriousness, as a New York City resident, I would like to ask:

Why is it okay for a dog to piss on the sidewalk, but an arrestable offense when a human does the same? Seriously. No one has ever provided a good answer to this. Urine is sterile, and dog piss smells just as bad as human piss (asparagus aside).

I won't even get into the poop.

Re:

[DeeQ (1194763)]

Indecent exspouser. Also on your logic you are smart enough to get hit by a car so go ahead chase that car.

Re:Heightism

[ookabooka (731013)]

Because dogs and humans are different.

No, seriously, I don't think it's the urine that's a problem. For instance, if I were to take 100mL of human urine in a sealed container outside and dump it, would there be a different set of laws broken than if it were 100mL of dog urine I was dumping? Essentially I believe it is the act of urination that is an arrestable offense, not the environmental contamination caused by the urine. The reason for that is it's definitely a social norm that one goes to the bathroom, well, in the bathroom, preferably in a toilet. Expecting all dogs to adhere to the same standards is unrealistic, and the law reflects that.
I can't believe I spent time thinking about this. . .

Re:

[plague3106 (71849)]

I can't believe you actually had to explain the reasoning on what is supposed to be a board frequented by intelligent people.

Re:Heightism

[MightyYar (622222)]

I think you might want to consider that you live in a city with little to no grass.

I'm not the one that lives in a city with so little grass, yet still bought a dog! :)

Re:

[AKAImBatman (238306)]

Urine is sterile, and dog piss smells just as bad as human piss

Actually, that smell is bacteria getting a foothold on the once sterile urine.

Once it leaves your body, it's not going to be sterile for long. Thus urine is actually quite a bit of a health hazard. It's "okay" for a dog to piss on the street because no one has figured out a good alternative yet. Ideally you'd want your dog to use the grass instead (where it gets absorbed into the ground and becomes plant nutrients), but grass is hard to find in

Re:Heightism

[omeomi (675045)]

Now my 3 year old son can't play in the park across the street any more because its is filled with dog shit everywhere

Just watch the spot for awhile, and take pictures of the people who don't pick up their poo. Then call the police. After a few tickets, they'll start learning to pick it up. Actually, I've found around my house that it's usually teenagers who don't pick it up. Sending a letter to their parents can be just as effective.

and every night I'm kept awake or woken at 3am because of all the barking around the neighborhood.

This one's often illegal too, depending on where you live...In my neighborhood, any neighborly complaint because of dog barking is ticketable. I've called the police on one particularly irresponsible neighbor a number of times. And if anybody thinks I'm a jerk for calling the police, I've never called because of barking during the daytime. Always well past midnight. Little yippie dogs should not be left outside barking all night long.

Re:Heightism

[EggyToast (858951)]

It's good to hear that you're taking the reasonable approach to the problem. If I had more free time, and was just slightly more sociopathic, I would walk around city blocks and look for people who don't pick up after their dogs, put on some latex gloves, and then pick up the dog's poop and throw it at the owner.

I suppose calling the cops is more civil.

Re:

[dwater (72834)]

>> It's "okay" for a dog to piss on the street because no one has figured out a good alternative yet.

Sounds like the Chinese government have made a good start to me. Now they just need to ban all dogs.

Well, if that's the reason, then they might start by banning humans.

It is common practice for young children to pee or poop on the street in China. All the young children have special trousers/pants with a split between the legs that reaches all the way from back to front, such that it is almost like the trousers are actually two pieces joined at the belt. It looks relatively normal while walking, but opens up conveniently when squatting. If the child is too young to squat on their own, the parent can hold

Re:

[Ravon Rodriguez (1074038)]

Also it is not much bigger 'health hazard' than any puddle of water on the ground, you wouldn't drink that either, would you?

Of course not, it could have pee in it!

Re:

[Decameron81 (628548)]

Why is it okay for a dog to piss on the sidewalk, but an arrestable offense when a human does the same?

Because as humans we can understand basic rules of behaviour while dogs can't?

Seriously, I taught my dogs not to piss on the sidewalk, but when they need to go, you just can't stop it.

Re:

[mobby_6kl (668092)]

> How would your average dog owner respond to me walking a rat around, letting it pee on things?

Most would just let their dog eat your rat.

Re:Heightism

[MightyYar (622222)]

:)

Apparently you haven't been to NYC. The average little yip-yip dog here wouldn't stand a chance against the average subway rat.

Re:Heightism

[Dan Ost (415913)]

Do a google search for "sneaky leaker".It's a contraption designed for people who need to take a piss on the street during Mardigras (sp?) but can't whip it out because of indecent exposure laws. Basically it's a tube that runs down your pants leg.

Re:

[MightyYar (622222)]

Hmmm, but that would thwart my 2dogs1bone.com idea.

That's no dog

[Midnight Thunder (17205)]

I'd ban any dog under 14 inches high...

Dogs that small either look like samplers or hair with teeth.

Re:

[peragrin (659227)]

>>I'd ban any dog under 14 inches high...

Dogs that small either look like samplers or hair with teeth.

I consider dog's under 14 inches high to be dinner with bone to chew on afterwards for real dogs.

Re:Heightism

[Stargoat (658863)]

I have spent some time in Beijing, and there are some mean ass dogs there. OK - you're thinking I'm a pussy. Not true. So I have hung around with mean-ass Chessies, owned a pit bull, and dated a girl with Dobermans. These 'vicious' dog breeds have nothing on the little mutts in Beijing. Nothing. These under 14"s are absolutely bat-shit insane. They'll take a damn finger off because you'll be like, "hello little doggie, you are so cute, how are you?"

Then BAM, no more finger. You'll be looking at the bloody stump on your right hand going WTF? How could that little thing do that much damage that quickly? And the 14" dog will be walking away chewing on your pointer for the win.

Until the people of Beijing learn to actually train dogs, it's probably best this way.

Re:

[Dan Ost (415913)]

Try placing orange and/or lemon peels in your herb garden.
I've heard that cats won't generally spray or scratch a location that smells like citrus.

Can anyone verify this?

How sweet.

[snarfies (115214)]

Chen must love his dog very much. Because my guess is that he's probably going to lose his life over this. Oh, maybe they won't find a way to put him in prison. Not as such. But I'm sure this old fellow is going to have, say, problems collecting his pension. Lost your paperwork, they'll say, so sorry - come back in six months and maybe we'll find it then.

Re:How sweet.

[LWATCDR (28044)]

Probably not.
This case really isn't a threat to the power of the government.
By letting this go to court they Chinese can say "Look we have the freedom to criticize our government and we have due process."
Why do you think we are hearing about it?

Re:

[innerweb (721995)]

But, then again, it is the little things that you start with when you are going for social change. You only wind up at the big things when the time has come. By letting a case go to court, especially if it wins, they are encouraging all kinds of other citizens to start taking their issues to court as well. Once the people get a taste of self-respect, they will not want to let go.

InnerWeb

Re:How sweet.

[Schraegstrichpunkt (931443)]

Not only that, but according to the article, Chen is not actually challenging the Chinese Communist Party. He's alleging that lower-level government officials are not adhering to the official policies of the CCP.

Basically, he's fighting for rule of law [wikipedia.org].

Not about how much he loves his dog

[Enlarged to Show Tex (911413)]

This would seem to be more about the censorship of his complaint, not about his dog. However, I do tend to agree that he's likely to get executed and the family billed for the firing squad bullet(s)...

OTOH, given the Chinese taste for dogmeat, I am somewhat surprised they would issue regulations like this, unless the intent is to take the confiscated dogs and process them for meat. Wouldn't it be better for the Chinese to take a page out of Michael Vick's playbook and factory-farm dogs for their meat?

Re:

[hax0r_this (1073148)]

And why, pray, would the American "propoganda machine" be interested in ruining people's perceptions of china? If you haven't noticed, the big businesses that run the media rely on consumers buying tons of goods manufactured in China. How many times have you actually heard about human rights violations in China on the nightly news in, say, the last 5 years?

You have to admire this guy's balls

[elrous0 (869638)]

Of course, they'll be freezing soon in a prison. But it's impressive, nonetheless.

Doubtful

[WindBourne (631190)]

This is not the kind of thing that Chinese gov. will use a prison. Keep in mind that the gov. actually uses the prison rather sparingly. Once they decide to punish, they are harsh, but unless a real crime was committed or the gov is out to set examples for the west or local population, prison is not used. The guy is actually fighting against a very minor item, and more importantly, he is staying within the boundaries of that the gov. wants. As long as he does that, nothing official will happen (though he m

One dog policy

[sakdoctor (1087155)]

One 14 inch dog should be enough for anyone.

Memery

[TheoMurpse (729043)]

14 inch dog? No wireless. Less height than a mastiff. Lame.

Sigh...

[jandersen (462034)]

Needless to say, Beijing's Municipal Government is not 'The Chinese Government', nor is this 'a bold challenge to the legal authority of the Communist Party to decide what China's 1.3 billion people can say and read on their computers'. And strictly speaking, we don't know whether his posting was actually removed by somebody who was a member of any government or indeed the Communist Party. In fact, the most likely scenario is that some employee at whichever web-hosting company runs the blog saw some reference to Beijing's local government and automatically deleted the post without even reading it further. And bureaucrats all over the world being what they are, they don't want to be bothered with cleaning up after their mistakes, so they tried to ignore it, knowing that this is too trivial for anybody to take serious action.

So how can this become 'a bold challenge' that illustrates that 'some of China's educated elite may be growing impatient with a one-party authoritarian system'? Well, only in the hazy minds of people who are willing to believe anything about their perceived enemies, never mind reality. I can't be bothered pointing out that this kind of things happen all the time everywhere - you already know.

I, like many other people in the world love and respect the American nation and the American people - but, by gods, you sometimes make it bloody hard work.

Re:

[wilder_card (774631)]

Good Lord, you're judging Americans by what's posted on Slashdot? No darn wonder you're upset.

Re:

[Kineticabstract (814395)]

What sort of weird bigotry leads you to decide that it's difficult to "love and respect the American nation" because you disagree with the focus of an article in a newspaper? It would make more sense if you found it difficult to "love and respect" the Washington Post - or better yet, what if you were to limit your emotional vexation to having a tough time loving and respecting the author of the article in question? It'll be far less taxing on you emotionally, which seems to be a concern.

I'm not really t

Check the dictionary

[dynamo (6127)]

Um, this is not censorship, this is much more like racism.
There are living beings that are being excluded, not words.

you're welcome,
- D

Read the Article

[Jeremy Erwin (2054)]

But it is censorship.

Beijing government bans largish dogs.
Dog owner doesn't like it, so he says so, on the internet
Censors remove his blog postings.
So, he sues the censors.

Re:

[Curmudgeonlyoldbloke (850482)]

It's apart-height.

(sorry to recycle such an old joke!)

Wonder what the reason for the restriction is?

[RandoX (828285)]

Is it something along the lines of the people using them as weapons? Doberman Pincers, Rottweilers, etc? To keep people from having two dozen guarding a building to keep the police out, or at least delay them while they destroy evidence or escape?

China gets better - I draw conclusions

[Gorimek (61128)]

It's going slow, but China is clearly getting more civilized in terms of human rights and rule of law etc.

I think it's not so much because the rulers are becoming better people, but a result of the enormous economic development and cultural exchange with the outside world. In other words due to trade. Money is power, and as regular Chinese start getting money they start getting power. It's an unstoppable process.

Two thoughts.

1. The Russian path of freeing up political life but not economical life has failed, while the opposite Chinese path seems incredibly productive.

2. The strategy to NOT trade with Cuba is an incredible mistake. With the opposite US policy, Cuba would probably be another Poland today.

Re:

[Bryansix (761547)]

2. The strategy to NOT trade with Cuba is an incredible mistake. With the opposite US policy, Cuba would probably be another Poland today. I actually agree with this. There was a time to place a trade embargo against Cuba but that time has come and gone. The US investments seized by the government of Cuba so many years ago are not going to be turned back over. Cuba also isn't a military threat to us by proxy anymore. So the reasons for the embargo are gone and the benefits of resuming trade with Cuba are

Read their Constitution

[Blakey Rat (99501)]

Read the Chinese constitution, or at least just skim the guaranteed rights.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/constitution/constitution.html [peopledaily.com.cn]

(See, for example, article 35:

Article 35. Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration.)

It's interesting that this document exists but, unlike the US Constitution, seems to hold no importance whatsoever.

Still, I'm glad this guy's standing up for himself.

(Completely Off-topic, but what the hell is that Dice Discussions Flash ad doing to Firefox to make it run so slow? Editors, you gotta pull this ad, this is ridiculous.)

Dice Discussions add must go!

[Bryansix (761547)]

Completely Off-topic, but what the hell is that Dice Discussions Flash ad doing to Firefox to make it run so slow? Editors, you gotta pull this ad, this is ridiculous

I've said this before and always get modded off-topic but I will continue to speak out about it until I am heard. The Dice Discussions ad must go! It affects IE7 and now proof that it affects Firefox. It brings computers to a crawl when it is running in the active window. I have emailed Dice and they refuse to listen. I vote Slashdot gets rid of all Dice ads since Dice is so irresponsible with them and refuses to fix something that is slowing down thousands of people's computers!. And this from a "technology company". Boo. Boo to Dice.

Back on topic, I hope that the Chinese people bring their Constitution up in coversations more. Everybody should use that line in the Constitution as their signatures online. Yes, the censors will have a field day but they can't squash everybody. Then they should all have a day of rememberance for Tienemen Square. They should all print photos of the man stopping the tanks and tape them to their backs while they ride to work on their bicycles or on the rear of their cars.

Re:

[Maxo-Texas (864189)]

adblock... no dice.

Re:

[pangur (95072)]

What one hand gives, the other takes away. :

Article 1. The People's Republic of China is a socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants. The socialist system is the basic system of the People's Republic of China. Sabotage of the socialist system by any organization or individual is prohibited.

Article 28. The state maintains public order and suppresses treasonable and other counter- revolutionary activities; it penalizes

So, when St. Bernards are outlawed,

[Hawthorne01 (575586)]

only outlaws will have St. Bernards?

Or something like that...

Damn..

[JustNiz (692889)]

>> barring any dog over 14 inches high and restricting each family to only one dog.

thats not much...a large family would starve over a holiday when the dog stores are closed.

Re:

[pjt33 (739471)]

So what you're saying is that your dog tastes better than all the others in the neighbourhood? Would you mind giving a rough address? Street would be sufficiently precise.