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."

Comments

Heightism

[frisket]

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

Re:Heightism

[MightyYar]

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:Heightism

[ookabooka]

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:Heightism

[dattaway]

This is one way to debark a small yipper:

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

Re:Heightism

[omeomi]

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]

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:Heightism

[MightyYar]

:)

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

You have to admire this guy's balls

[elrous0]

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

Memery

[TheoMurpse]

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

Re:How sweet.

[LWATCDR]

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?

China gets better - I draw conclusions

[Gorimek]

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.

Read their Constitution

[Blakey Rat]

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

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

(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.)

So, when St. Bernards are outlawed,

[Hawthorne01]

only outlaws will have St. Bernards?

Or something like that...

Re:How sweet.

[Schraegstrichpunkt]

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.

Dice Discussions add must go!

[Bryansix]

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.