Apparently, the streets of Beijing aren’t just good for the odd baby-butt sighting. I can’t remember the first time Craig and I walked outside the door of our apartment to find the cardboard boxes filled with puppies, but there they were. I don’t really know anything about the pet trade in China, but I do know that it seems, for the most part, to take place on the streets here in Beijing, in cardboard boxes and tiny cages strung to bicycles that attract hordes of cooing onlookers wherever they go.
For the most part I feel terrible for the animals, who I can see mistreated in front of my eyes and who I’m not convinced are going on to better homes once they’re purchased. But I also can’t help but think that some of them might want a snuggle or two, and I’m really a sucker for baby animals. So I usually end up dragging Craig to the nearest animal bicycle vendor and picking up all the puppies and mice and bunnies I can hold, preparing to run if Craig gives me the ok. I have tried to convince Craig of the merit of several plans I have to smuggle the wee babes into the U.S., but he remains unconvinced.
So far, the street menageries of Beijing seem to hold a varied assortment of animals. Our running list of things we’ve glimpsed on the street include: puppies, kittens, bunnies, hamsters, mice, gerbils, snakes, turtles, scorpions, baby ducks, baby chicks, birds, guinea pigs, goldfish and, of course, squirrels.
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- Bunny brigade
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- Some animal stands
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- This one…I almost ran away with
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- The Bicycle Vendor
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- And birds, too
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- The puppy boxes
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- It’s a squirrel
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- Another pet shop
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- And baby chicks and ducks, too
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- More puppy boxes
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- This box was right outside our apartment
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- SO CUTE. Kind of painful.
