INTRODUCTION By Elly Maynard (Founder), Sirius Global Animal Organisation On the 1st April 2000, Associated Press released a story of a well known Swiss Organisation, the International Association for the Protection of Animals who had called on the Swiss cabinet to prevent the sales of dogs to Asian countries, especially China, Vietnam and Korea. Spokeswoman Milly Schaer-Manzoli said it was impossible to know how many dogs were being exported because of a "wall of silence" from breeders but she knew of one woman who had sent five dogs to Korea. In China, a Saint Bernard breeder admitted his stud dogs came from Switzerland. "Switzerland is making itself look ridiculous by offering its national dog on a silver platter to satisfy the customs of populations who don't even have the excuse of being hungry", said Schaer-Manzoli. That is what started me on the crusade to stop this abhorrent trade and to protect all dogs in the future. Switzerland is not the only country exporting dogs to China for the meat trade. Along the way I met Ilaria Ferri who has become the European Co-ordinator in Rome, Italy and Maggie Hansen in Norway. Between us we gathered over 4.5 million signatures and supporters in 18 months from 45 countries. The Petition struck a cord with the average person who was and is horrified that these beautiful, gentle animals who have always been bred solely as domestic companion animals were being imported into those Asian countries named above and bred and slaughtered for human consumption. As time went by, more and more evidence was gathered, heartbreaking evidence. Some of the pictures appear on this site. Never before in the history of this planet have our domestic dogs been exported as food and it is time to put a stop to this. The dog has come a long way with humans. The partnership between the two transcends most things. Throughout the years dogs have been bred in the West and Europe for many reasons such as hunting, for herding and for guarding. Search and Rescue has also been a large part of the role some breeds of dogs play in the lives of humans. These breeds are in particular the Saint Bernards, German Shepherds, Labradors to name a few. After the September 11, 2001 tragedy in New York, the world media called the Search and Rescue dogs "canine heroes" yet these are the same breeds being exported for food. Seeing Eye dogs, Hearing Dogs, dogs used in comfort for the elderly in Rest Homes and Hospices; do these animals deserve to be left to a fate indescribable at the hands of a country, namely China, that has no regard to any animal let alone the dog? No animal welfare exists in that country. The Petition has now been presented to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. This happened at 12.20 pm on Friday 2nd November 2001. This is Stage 2. Stage 3 is now in progress. It is up to the people of this planet to put pressure on their individual Governments who appear to be protecting their Foreign trading partner, namely China in that they refuse to even discuss this situation with Chinese Ambassadors. The dogs MUST be classified. The list exists with the FAO United Nations and can be seen also on this site. Judge for yourselves. Dogs do not appear on this list, yet China has decided they are now livestock. Say No! Strongly.

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