The Chinese Communist campaign against animals that is most talked about is the Four Pests campaign of the late 1950s launched against various pests and sparrows. However, the extermination of dogs in wartime seems to be another interesting example.<\/p>\n
In a report by the Japanese military giving an overview of Chinese Communist wartime economic measures taken in northern China, we find the following little detail:<\/p>\n
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The raising of dogs was banned [by the Communist party] and Dog Killing Squads were sent out on patrol in an attempt to exterminate them. This was done not only because the dogs consume provisions, their barking could also potentially expose the nighttime maneuvers of Communist forces.1<\/a><\/sup>\u3000<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Of course, the abandonment, killing, or eating of pets in wartime to prevent the waste of valuable provisions (or if they are consumed, to make up for a lack of nourishment) is nothing new, but I found the formal establishment of dog extermination patrols both for that reason and to end the problem of their barking interesting. It reminds me of the scene in Waltz with Bashir<\/a> in which Israeli soldiers in the Lebanese war kill barking dogs in the night in a village raid.<\/p>\n
Are there other historical examples of these kinds of formal dog extermination units?<\/p>\n
Update:<\/strong> Thanks to a comment from RPC and Google Books, I found another reference<\/a> in David Kidd’s Peking Story<\/em>. It speaks of a surprise raid a section of the city by Communist troops, “after it had first been reconnoitred by the Night People (who, no doubt, had themselves been preceded by the dog exterminators)…” (p136)<\/p>\n