Little case of stray dog exposes big loophole in law

When it comes to dogs, dog-lovers and dog-haters fight like cats and dogs. But the recent case in Urumqi, capital city of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, is more than a storm in a teacup, for it shows how essential it is to promote the rule of law in a society in rapid transition.

On May 10, Wang Jian, father of a 3-year-old boy, severely beat up a stray dog because it was terrifying his son with its barking. After details of the incident were posted online, Wang became the target of netizens. Within two days, he received more than 2,000 intimidating text messages and 3,000 threatening phones calls from dog-lovers across the country. His wife and a colleague who happened to be at the scene also received such messages and calls.

This verbal violence escalated into physical violence on May 12, forcing Wang to apologize and promise to pay about 10,000 yuan as compensation to the dog in front of dozens of dog-lovers, some of whom were from as far as Guangzhou and Shanghai. Some protesters jumped on top of his car after Wang's father tried to argue with them, and let them go only after Wang bowed to them five times for thrashing the dog.