Paul McCartney has decided he’s never going to play a concert in China. Yeah? We’ll we’re not going to buy his rubbish new album, but we don’t keep spouting off about it.
China got Paul McCartney’s hackles up by the way that it treats cats and dogs for fur. And not only is he never going to go to China, he never wants you to go to China, either. Especially for the Olympics.
For a while it looked like Paul McCartney (CDs) was going a bit soft on
his ideals. He’s decided that he would sell his image and songs to
Fidelity Investments and he’s been relying on gimmicks like beaming
songs into space to sell his records. But there’s one thing that Paul
will never go back on – the way he feels about cruelty to animals.
Paul was shown secret footage of animals
being killed in a fur market in the city of Guangzhou, southern China,
and that’s what prompted his anti-China outbursts. The film, made by
animal rights group PETA, shows dogs and cats being thrown from a bus
onto a concrete pavement. Then, crying with pain, they are picked up
with long metal tongs and thrown over a 7ft fence to be killed. Paul McCartney said:
"This
is barbaric. It’s like something out of the Dark Ages. I wouldn’t even
dream of going over there to play, in the same way I
wouldn’t go to a country that supported apartheid. This is just
disgusting. It’s against every rule of humanity. People think because
China is going to host
the Olympics then they must be coming into the modern world, but then
you see this sort of stuff. If they want to consider themselves a
civilised nation, they’re going to have to stop this."
The
Chinese Embassy in London has criticised McCartney in return, though.
It even doubts the authenticity of the PETA footage. A spokesperson
said:
"Sir Paul should be calling for a boycott of the fashion industry using fur in the European and American markets."
Read more:
Boycott China, Urges Sir Paul – This Is London
[story by Stuart Heritage]
Michael Scale says
Possibly one of the sickest things i have ever seen. The Chinese are a race with a history of brutality against man and animal. I don’t mind anything being put to death in a humane way but torture before hand coupled with a sickening death shows without doubt why we need to pressure the EU to act to stop unnecessary suffering.
Pete Smith says
No, the people with the worst history of brutality are in the West. China never tried to take over the world and wage genocide and enslave people around the world.
leif says
I agre with Paul on this one….Enough is enough,and if you witnessed this,i would assume it bothersome to anyone.
Marguerite says
I agree entirely with Sir Paul. If anyone wants to sign a pledge to boycott goods from China, go to http://www.pledgebank.com/WearFakeFur
Caronel says
All I can say is, “Go Paul”.
Unnecessary cruelty to any animal
is unacceptable. I got sick to
my stomach when I read that story.
fiorio says
hypocritical western. these furs are where most women’s purses come from. Eu and American women are using it, while saysing “oh that’s horrible thing”. If you wanna protect animals, don’t buy the product made of real animal fur. It has nothing to do with the whole China country or China industry. West media did really good job on demonize China, does European/Americans really know something about China excpet the negative news that media says? I am wondering what is Paul’s IQ, lower than a 3th grade elementary student? BTW, Paul, you are not polular in China, and nobody will invited you go to there, so you don’t have to be worry about holding concert there, coz you are NOT polular! (John Lennon is much better than you, he can think, you defenitely can’t.)
Chris says
Pretty immature comment there, Fiorio. You must be in the 3rd grade yourself. Think before you type.
Marguerite, thank you for your reference. I will pass it on.
bobby fletcher says
Please tell Fidelity you will not do business with them, because of
Paul McCartney’s decision to boycott China, and his affiliation with
animal rights activists that have promoted their agenda thru hate by
appealing to America’s cultural intolerance regarding what animal is
not okay to eat:
[email protected]
800-343-3548
Fidelity Investment:
I am disappointed to find out Fidelity have decided to affiliate with
Paul McCartney, and will reconsider doing business with you. As you may
know, last year Mr. McCartney announced his decision to boycott China,
at the urgent of animal rights groups such as PETA and HSUS.
While I agree animals should be treated humanely by all, especially
food animals. What I can not agree is the anti-China message Mr.
McCartney and these animal rights activists have employed to further
their agenda.
By appealing to our society’s cultural intolerance regarding what
animal is not okay to eat with misleading figures and emotional appeals such as “companion
animal”, aimed to project a false perception of China and its 1.24
billion citizens, not only obfuscate the real issue of advocating
humane farming practice, this position also unnecessarily fosters
bigotry against other’s society and culture, and could rekindle the
racism that was once rampant in our country.
America has the right to love our pets, but the issue of what animal to
eat is a complex one, especially when crossing the cultural divide. I
hope Fidelity will consider this issue carefully, and evaluate its
support for insensitive speech and actions.
Sincerely,
Derek says
I would say the most important thing is China have got to learn manners. The pushing and shoving, jumping in a que, spitting in public places and chucking rubbish on to the street. If they are proud of their country then they must stop treating the motherland like a rubbish bin. In Aisa my thumbs up still go to Japan. Even though it is very USA western mordernised. But the Japanese mannerisum is above top quality ^_^
Arigatou Gozimas
Michel Solis says
fioro, you’re missing the point in paul mccartney’s criticism of china: cruelty to animals. it’s not about fur and the usa and eu fur and fashion industry. his point has been very clear.
but … beyond the big animal cruelty point mccartney is trying to make, is the sobering fact that people who buy fur in the usa and eu are not aware of where their fur is coming from. for example, everyday in new york city i see a trend (thanks to j lo, etc.) of young people wearing fur, proudly. little do they know that they are most likely wearing a chinese gutter cat or a sickly dog. people need to be educated. china is cutting corners by torturing and killing stray animals to make a buck. these are stray cats and dogs. these are not expensive furs.
how would you feel if you found out that steak burger (just an example, hopefully you don’t eat meat) you’ve been eating is really chinese dog? wouldn’t you be just a little upset? wouldn’t you want to know? not to mention that the chinese dog was brutally tortured just for you to eat your burger! still, you don’t need to eat burgers, but you’re going to do it. just like people don’t need to wear furs but they always have and always will continue to wear furs. not cats and dogs … that were tortured. so besides being totally barbaric, china is also frauding the people with fake fur.
yeah it would be nice to try and make people stop wearing furs, but it isn’t going to happen. going after the usa and eu fashion and fur industry is totally unrealistic. and i would suspect paul mccartney has been around the block a few times. his fight is with the chinese and their barbaric ways of dealing with stray animals. it’s wrong.
unfortunately, in my opinion, mccartney’s wife is a bit of a zealot and her embarassing fight with j lo was … embarrassing. that really can’t be helping paul mccartney. compared to his first wife, this new wife is a bit over the top and it might be making paul mccartney look a little bit of a fake. but i believe paul mccartney (and his wife) is sincere and his fight is a legitimate one and it opens a pandora’s box. people don’t want to know, but people need to be educated. i’m glad that when i see all these trendy hip hop people running around the lower east side of nyc proudly in their $20,000 minks, i can see the chinese smelly cat or dog they are most likely wearing, not the expensive farm raised mink they think they’re wearing. and when i go into Bloomingdales i know that $5000 mink baseball cap is probably a tortured chinese kitty. when i walk uptown on 57th street and i see that rich old blue haired lady wearing her $75,000 full length winter mink, i know it’s most likely a pack of tortured stray chinese dogs keeping her city bones warm between cab rides. and i guess if i was one of these fur wearing people, i wouldn’t want to know either. thank god i’m not and thank god i do.
thank you paul mccartney. you rock.
and how anybody in this modern world can disageree with paul mccartney’s very straightfoward statements about cruelty to animals, is just unbelievable.
unbelievable.
so fioro, if you don’t understand any of that, then i will address you on your level:
you’re stupid. you must have a IQ of 4. paul mccartney is very famous in china. that’s why he is boycotting, dummy. you must have a lower than 3rd grade education. you only boycott when there is a demand, but i guess they don’t teach that on Nickleodeon. and yeah: it is all about the ‘china country or china industry’. now go do your homework before i tell your mommy.
laetitia says
Fioro
Shame on you !
Haven’t you really embarrassed yourself and shown how sick and immature you are in a public domain.
Lets hope nobody skins you alive – I wonder how much you will howl.
Yvonne says
Good for you, Paul and Heather. Your hearts are in the right place. If China is to become part of the modern world, it must shed its medieval attitude to animals and learn compassion. It has gradually revised its attitude to women and foot-binding, so why not to animals too?
China must end at once and make illegal :
– the torture and killing of animals for fur.
– the practice of cutting off bears’ paws, knocking out their teeth and locking them up in minute cages, then inserting metal tubes into their gall bladders and ‘milking’ the gall for use in Chinese medicine. 7,000 bears are currently kept in this state of torment in various sites in China.
– the use of tiger bones in Chinese medicine, which is leading to the speedy extinction of tigers.
– the use of rhino horn in Chinese medicine, which is leading to the extinction of rhinos.
And while we’re about it, how about demanding that Thailand also ends its terrible use and torment of animals, including eating live monkeys’ brains at certain off-the-beaten-track restaurants in Bangkok?
The EU – perhaps the world – should threaten to boycott the Chinese Olympics unless China ends its primitive and sadistic practices. China so desperately needs western cultural approbation to add to its economic rise that now is just the moment to put pressure on the country.
Justine Imogeon Martin says
Hello, I am only at the age of 13, but i really adore animals and when I see sick abuse towards them I feel something has to be done about it. Paul Mccartney has really inspired me and for people to say he should be skinned alive?? Whats wrong with you, you can’t use violence to solve any issue if anything you use moral words to fight against there poor excuses to kill inncoent animal, I think It is disgusting. And I truely support what paul mccartney is doing and others which distrubute towards helping them. I know I can’t really make a Difference but hopefully my message will show how strongly I feel.
Good Luck
x…Justine…x
Chris says
It’s insane that the USA still boycotts Cuba but has no problem doing business with China… that nation treats its citizens terribly and nobody seems to mind! Look at what they do to journalists who dare question the government, they get thrown in jail for life (if they’re lucky), they censor the Internet, newsprint, television… forget about the animal problems for a second, their people need freedom.
Bridget says
I applaud Paul and Heather McCartney for their efforts. I will be eternally grateful to them for coming to Canada and opening the eyes of the world to the cruelty happening here with our commercial seal slaughter. Many people in Canada sneered at them, saying they accomplished nothing, but what they did was amazingly huge – they raised awareness around the world that the cruelty is happening and that it must be stopped. So I definitely applaud Paul and Heather McCartney for speaking up for the animals. Their work is invaluable.
Laura says
I have just watched the video and feel absolutely sick to my stomach. How on earth can people still allow this to happen, and what on earth is wrong with people who cannot see how absolutely sick and sadistic it is. These are helpless animals who have done nothing to deserve such a torturous ending to life. It makes me so angry that humans believe they have the right to inflict all of this pain on all of these animals. I think Paul and Heather Mc Cartney are fantastic for what they are doing- I just find it a shame that more people with influence can’t rally up with them to help spread the word and try to stop such an atrocious thing from happening.
Bobby McSluish says
Clearly some posters are determined to obfuscate the issue here, by drawing attention to remarks made about dogs being “companion animals”.
Personally I couldn’t care less if people want to eat dogs or donkeys. It’s the manner the animal is treated before and during its death that matters, and that’s why this documentary was so upsetting.
breanna mendoza says
I agree with Paul 100%. Enough is Enough, its all about the cruel behavior people have for animals in China. There all acting like children who don’t know any better when they all should. It breaks my heart knowing that all of those helpless defenseless animals are just being slaughtered when they should be cared for. I can’t stand this bull crap anymore, we have to do something, and right now.
Kaitlyn s says
I think it is sad. The way they are treating these helpless animals.Iwatched the video.Iwas sick to my stomach but also I was crying.Put it this way would you like to be killed and used as medicine,shampoo or skinned for someones fur coat when the can just wear a sweater.They are torturing these animals for doing nothing wrong.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH THIS HAS TO BE STOPPED!
Ali Bug says
I Think That Paul is a very Good Musician of a Player so yeah good since of The Beatles Broke up It’s Pretty Hard For Paul, Ringo. I love All There Song!!!! Help, I wanna hold your hand, Twist, Shout, Please Mr.Postman, Hey Jude. If you Get This Please Comment Back!!!!
#1 Fan ever Ali
WENDY FULLER PRIMO says
First, Paul McCartney will survive quite nicely without China’s money OR career support.
He has viewed unspeakable evidence of the most brutal animal torture imaginable. The Chinese generally are fearful of domestic animals, which they view as wild.
They do not view cats and dogs as ‘friends’, ‘pets’ or ‘family members’ as so many of us Americans do.
The brutality involved in Chinese slaughter houses is unspeakable. I give McCartney great props for being able to view these films. -For a person with his sort of heart, this is nearly impossible to do.
The major fur industry in China (not unlike the Baby Seal Fur market in Canada) Knows that these pelts lose value if they are damaged during slaughter. -A hole, for example, placed in these pelts diminishes the value of the fur piece.
Therefore, death comes slowly, terrifyingly and agonizingly.
And MOST unnecessarily.
If I weren’t already a McCartney music fan, I would be a fan of this man based solely on his courageous stance alone.
The general population can close our eyes and pretend that the Canadian and Chinese fur industries are above-board and are handled with any semblance of dignity.
McCartney knows differently and is not afraid to jeopardize a potentially significant population of his fan-base as he speaks out for those who have no voice.
BUY McCartney’s latest. And send a donation of any sort to PETA this Christmas.
I love McCartney for his courage and his heart AS MUCH as I have ever loved his music.
Thank you, Paul !!!!
WENDY FULLER PRIMO says
For the record, my knowledge comes from many years of research alone.
I have the heart, but not half of the courage of Paul McCartney.
I, therefore, will remain unable ever to view this film.