The events in Yunnan were followed by a rabies scare in other parts of China as well.
The response to the killing of dogs have also caused alarm in China as rising prosperity in the country is giving way to a pet-owning culture in which dogs are a clear favorite. Many commentators question a system that conducts mass extermination of dogs without determining if the dogs are vaccinated or licensed.
Huang Juan, a leader of the Abandoned Pets Assistance Center, in Wuhan told the New York Times, "They did it without any real reason, since many of these dogs are vaccinated and cannot spread rabies. But how can you speak reason with these people?"
The Humane Society of the United States on Wednesday offered $100,000 to China in order to develop a program to control rabies in Jining.
Although the extermination programs are controversial, there is no denying that the issue of rabies is widespread in China. Throughout the country, 961 persons have died of rabies in the first six months of 2006 alone. Last year an astonishing 2,545 individuals died from the disease.
In contrast, incidence of rabies is quite rare in Western countries.
Once the pride of Chinese Communism, now the rural health care system is at its worst and experts say that the prevalence of rabies is an evidence of this.
Many rural provinces see the rabies vaccinations as an unnecessary expense. Simultaneously, the oral vaccine, which is easier to administer, is even more costly and hence not imported.
Luo Tingrong, a rabies expert at Guangxi University told the New York Times, "Many farmers are reluctant to get shots for their dogs, because it's not always free, whereas the veterinary system at the township level has become very inadequate...There isn't much investment into the system."
