Chaofen: the tragic story behind her name
Our newest pup, Chaofen, a beautiful red/white female with a Corgeous blaze on her face, has been added to our breeding program out of Willow and Gigi’s Spring 2022 litter.
She is named in loving memory of another corgis whose life was brutally ended by an oppressive and unnecessarily reactive regime. That corgi’s story follows.
China Left in Shock Following Brutal Killing of Corgi During Covid-19 Disinfection Video of epidemic-prevention workers beating pet dog prompts outcry in country sticking with ‘Covid Zero’ policy
Corgi Chaofen was fatally beaten by epidemic prevention workers disinfecting a residential building in southeastern China. Image is a screen grab taken from a Weibo video posted by the owner online.
By Natasha Khan Updated Nov. 15, 2021 11:38 am ET HONG KONG—The fatal beating of a pet corgi by epidemic prevention workers disinfecting a residential building linked to a Covid-19 outbreak in southeastern China has sparked outrage in China, leading some pet owners and animal rights activists to question the extent of China’s stringent pandemic-control measures. On Friday, the corgi’s owner shared security footage showing her dog cowering behind a table as two people wearing hazmat suits walk toward it, with one brandishing an iron rod. As the two workers step past the dog’s cow-print bed, one of them hits the dog in the face with the rod as it tries to escape to the other room, after which it runs out of the frame. In a video interview with a local media outlet, the dog’s owner, identified only by her surname Fu, said she witnessed the beating through an app on her phone connected to her home security camera and used a speaker embedded in the camera to beg the workers to leave her dog alone, but her pleas were ignored. Ms. Fu said she heard the dog crying off camera and later saw the workers carrying a yellow bag away after the whimpers stopped. Blood could be seen on the ground afterward, she said. She didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Corgi Chaofen’s owner shared security footage showing her dog cowering behind a table as a worker in a hazmat suit walked toward it. Image is a screen grab taken from a Weibo video posted online. Chinese social media erupted with commentary and outrage at the death of the dog. Some questioned how they could still trust the system. “A lot of people are compliant. They stop going out, wear masks every day, and even order takeout instead of going to restaurants,” read one post on the popular app WeChat. “Then they are quarantined through no fault of their own and their pets are killed—who can feel safe cooperating with the quarantine?” Ms. Fu, who lives in Shangrao, a midsize city in Jiangxi province, said in a post on the Twitter-like microblogging platform Weibo, that she had named the corgi Chaofen, after a famous regional fried noodle dish. She also wrote that she had tested negative for the virus at the time of the incident. The next day, district officials in Shangrao released a statement saying that workers carried out “biosafety disposal” procedures in the house “amid imperfect communication” with Ms. Fu. There is no indication the dog was tested for Covid-19 before it was killed.