(Appledaily on September 12,2001)

On 27th March, the newspaper Appledaily has forfeited 50 thousands Hongkong dollars for offend of Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (Chapter 390) by the court. The related article was located at its supplement space which covered eating monkey in mainland China. It showed particularly how people were eating the raw brain of monkey and also the price of the monkey meal. The naphtha of this article was not covered by any warning or aposematic matter. The newspaper pleaded that they just wanted to show the fact in China.

It is a pity that there are people eating raw brain of monkeys. Actually, eating wild animals in China is very popular. It also attracts many Hongkong people going to eat too. Many people love to eat wild animals always boast the curative effect of eat wild lives. However, catching and eating wild animals is violation of law in Hong Kong. So many people go north to eat what they think healthy.

It is unwise to eat wild animals in China as the hygiene there is worse. People eating wild animals may be infected by pathogens. Monkey is near relative to human being from the mammals, so many diseases can be transmitted each other very easily. Like the flu and HIV viruses, they may cause serious problem to our mankind world.

Besides, it is also true that some people in China also love to eat dogs and cats. These people treat the household animals as edible meat. It really makes pet lovers sick. We believe China is making progress in economy, but there are still something lagged behind.

It is great to see that there was the first cat show in Beijing. It showed that there are people in China concerning the companion animals. I hope it will be a good sign. It is important to educate people to cherish the nature and the animals though it would be a long march.