(AP) 
In a statement to media, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said the group had canceled all orders of merchandise it sold that was made in China.

"We are urging everyone to actively boycott — not a word we use lightly — anything from China given the bludgeoning killing of thousands of dogs" and examples of cruelty toward animals, Newkirk said.

Will Wright, at PETA's European office in London, said the orders were worth about $300,000.

"We believe other groups will join us in expressing outrage over the blatant cruelty to animals the world is witnessing," Wright said.

Unlike in the West, where dogs have long been cherished as companions or helpmates, dogs have rarely had an easy time in China. Dog meat is eaten throughout the country, revered as a tonic in winter and a restorer of virility in men.

Following the communist seizure of power in 1949, dog ownership was condemned as a bourgeois affection and canines were hunted as pests. Attitudes have softened in recent years, although urban Chinese are still subject to strict rules on the size of pets they can keep and must pay steep registration fees.

Increased rates of dog ownership have been tied to a major rise in the number of rabies cases in recent years, with 2,651 reported deaths from the disease in 2004, the last year for which data was available, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 70 percent of rural households keep dogs, the center said, although rates of rabies vaccinations remain extremely low at only about 3 percent.

Access to appropriate rabies treatment is also highly limited, especially in the countryside, said Dr. Francette Dusan, a World Health Organization expert on diseases passed from animals to people.

Effective rabies control requires coordinated efforts between human health, animal health and municipal agencies and authorities, Dusan said.

"This has not been pursued adequately to date in China, with most control efforts consisting of purely reactive dog culls," she said.

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