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Dog Friendly Kunming

satii (82 posts) • 0

Facetious, tongue in cheek comment aside, dog consumption in China is a real issue.

Currently situated in my winter locale further South of South of Cloud where "狗肉店" (dog meat store/restaurant) are visible by the road. Stray dogs locked in tiny cages can be seen being transported to be eventually slaughtered. It's a blood boiling sight, yet is the peusdo cultural norm in some rural areas in the Mainland. And no, I'm not speaking of Guizhou.

More public voice of opposition needed for swift closure of these horrific practices/establishments. Top down orders from the State needed, as well as strict enforcement at local township level.

Regarding Bamei and others' assertion that most don't clean up after their dogs. I believe negatively bias is at work here.

Sort or like how we tend to perceive the more frequent bad luck when good luck is just as frequent.

For example, we tend to remember the current traffic lane or cashier line being slower whenever we switch over. The previous lane or line appear to move, cars or shoppers passing us fluidly as we grind to a halt.

In actuality, the correct decisions of switching are just as prevalent on average. We just easily forget them... yet the bad, teeth clenching scenarios stick.

Same applies to how children seemingly remember the times their parents wronged them, yet oblivious to the first bike daddy bought junior, or the innumerable acts of sacrifice mom gave to her most beloved.

This cognitive phenomenon of negatively bias is related to our survival instinct passed down genetically. This particular wiring/firing may have helped our ancestors avoid negative situations that hinder their procreation of offspring. Remembering that scary foe or nemesis lurking in a specific patch of forest so as to be more cautious next time may be useful.

It's probably true for noticing owners who don't clean up after their dogs while overlooking those that do.

Bamei (36 posts) • 0

Funny that you got up early this morning satii to write down your thoughts on perception. Anyways got me thinking. Some days ago I noticed dog poo disposal bags being offered to the public in a living compound not too far away from mine. First time I saw this in China. I realised as well that I never go to public parks here in Kunming. I don’t even know if dogs are allowed in these parks but it would not surprise me that if they are that they have to be on a leash and that dog poo bags are available there.
My comment was thus based on a limited experience. In my own compound people don’t clean up after their dogs and there are no dog poo bag dispensers. The general mentality is that this should be done by the underpaid compound staff. The same staff that is expected to clean up the plastic waste bags people leave outside their front doors. They apparently don’t have time to dispose of them themselves because they are too busy listing complaints about cockroaches on the wechat group of the living compound.

JanJal (1243 posts) • 0

Outside our house there have been containers for dog poo bags for years, but they've always been empty.

I assume it would take someone to physically be there offering a bag or two to the dog owners. Otherwise the bags will quickly disappear to people in need whether they have a dog or not.

As for the negativity bias, I think it is a healthy thing in developing societies (and what society isn't?) even when evolution has transcended from biology to culture. It may, in most cases, no longer serve to boost the survival rate of individuals or the species, but it does increase peer-to-peer valuation and ultimately survival of the society.

satii (82 posts) • 0

I have yet to see doggy poo bags in those wooden boxes. Not once. Not anywhere. Perhaps one day you will see me donning a 文明昆明 vest handing them out sparingly. For their dogs & babies.

To be fair, I can't speak for xiaoqu compounds. Social etiquette character, or 素质 (suzhi), of residents may vary drastically depending where you reside. But even the wealthy may lack suzhi.

Morning musings, Day 2:

Scientific, evidence-based peer reviews are about removing personal biases.

When human biases are introduced in observational studies, the accuracy of experiment design as well as data collection, processing, and interpretation is compromised. All of which are systematic errors that skew the truth of our perceptual interaction with nature, and in this case, with each other.

In short, observer bias of any form is the enemy of the scientific method. It inadvertently distorts reality by not taking into account all variables in the environment.

So outside your proposed benefits, negativity bias may sharpen the proverbial double edged sword that severs the union of society.

Emotional fueled disapproval of opposing ideologies may strengthen, as rift between feuding factions exacerbate. Where chasm to mutual concessions widen, disharmony spirals bi-directionally.

JanJal (1243 posts) • 0

My point about benefits of negativity bias in things like handling dog poo is, that even if you really have just 1% of dog owners leaving the poo behind, it would benefit the society to eradicate that 1%.

I trust us to agree that in an urban environment 0% is the preferred situation. Somewhere else, perhaps leaving poo behind serves bio-diversity or something, but here such may not be preferred.

Towards that goal, scientific review to ascertain whether the percentage is 50% (as could be observed with some negativity bias) or 1% or something else is rather irrelevant. As long as it is not 0%, something needs to be done.

And I believe taking it as 50% (however incorrect figure that may be) gets us to the 0% faster than taking it as 1%.

satii (82 posts) • 0

Staying on dog topic and to bring closure to our negativity bias discussion...

Taking your side of the argument, I can see how negativity bias may have motivated the call and enactment of mandatory vaccination for all Kunming dogs. A worthy initiative to curb the runwanted suffering of the 1% few from rabies-related deaths, or worse, a potential rabie-pocalypse outbreak in Spring City.

Yet, adding caution not to cull all strays, or quarantine a million domesticated dogs in an enclosed camp, when majority of them pose no threat.

Liumingke1234 (3297 posts) • 0

They cracked down on unlicensed dogs before about 5 years ago. They are starting up again. I was told that since my dog (French bulldog) is 14 years old he won't need it. He's too old (about 72 years in human age). He doesn't go outside our xiao qu.

tablefulfads (2 posts) • 0

I feel dogs in kunming are going anywhere they want without any hindrance.

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