The background music is obviously highly inappropriate but probably significantly in line with the attitude of the person that we see beating this donkey because they can't pull a weight which apparently is far too heavy for them (I can't watch it). This is a very difficult topic because it means we have to talk about cultural attitudes which are clearly in general completely different in China compared to the UK for instance.
The tweet accompanying the video from 'We Are Not Food' states:
Does this reflect China's attitude towards animals? Or would it be high time to start protecting these most vulnerable members of society? The choice of background music tells a lot - no respect for the suffering of a sentient being.
I have a nice article which I wrote some time ago which helps to explain these cultural differences and which you can read by clicking on this link if you wish. I think that it is a very enlightening article because it does mystify a lot of people in the West as to how people in China - I'm referring to some people in China - can be so brutally cruel to animals without any sensitivity towards their sentience.
It is a tradition. Culture is a tradition. And that is one of the great problems with relying on cultural attitudes to guide one. These cultures originate in a bygone era perhaps 2-3000 years ago. Attitudes then were far less sophisticated than they are now. A country's culture and attitudes must evolve with changes in modern life. This certainly applies to animal welfare.
Improvements in animal welfare are being made but too slowly. Traditional cultures are holding back improvement in animal welfare. It's time for change in that respect. It is time for a greater enlightenment about hanging on to old-fashioned cultures which foster animal abuse as we see in this distressing video.
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