Paul McCartney has angrily denounced China and vowed never to perform there after seeing "horrific" undercover film of dogs and cats being brutalized and then killed for their fur.
The former Beatle condemned images of the animals being killed in a fur market in Guangzhou, adding that he intends to stay away from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He and his wife Heather, a committed animal-rights supporter, also urged people to boycott Chinese goods, which drew a sharp response from the Chinese embassy in London.
In the film, shot for the People for the Ethical treatment of Animals (PETA) campaign group, dogs and cats are pictured being thrown from the top deck of a converted bus on to concrete pavements.
The screaming animals, many with their paws now smashed from the fall, are then lifted up with long metal tongs and thrown over a 2m fence.
Some are beaten by laughing workers. All are then killed and skinned for their fur. Many are believed still to be alive as their skins are peeled away.
The McCartneys looked aghast and close to tears as they watched the footage for a special report on BBC television's Six O'Clock News, to be screened today.
"This is barbaric. Horrific," Paul McCartney said. "It's like something out of the Dark Ages. And they seem to get a kick out it. There's even a woman doing it. They're just sick, sick people."
"I wouldn't even dream of going over there to play, in the same way I wouldn't go to a country that supported apartheid. This is just disgusting. It's against every rule of humanity. I couldn't go there," he said.
"I wouldn't go there while this goes on. If this is stopped, then it's a different affair," he added.
In another piece of footage, shot last summer by an undercover investigator connected to PETA, cats are seen squirming inside a sack, which is then thrown into a vat of steaming water.
They are boiled to death and skinned by a fleecing machine.
Campaigners estimate that more than 2 million dogs and cats are killed for their fur in China every year. The rapidly expanding economic giant, which also farms animals such as mink for their fur, makes over half of the world's fur products.
The comments by McCartney will come as a blow for his Chinese fans -- the Beatles are hugely popular in the country.
"People think because China is going to host the Olympics then they must be coming into the modern world, but then you see this sort of stuff," he said. "Surely the authorities there must realize how bad this looks? How can the host nation of the Olympics be seen allowing animals to be treated in this terrible way?"
"If they want to consider themselves a civilized nation, they're going to have to stop this. They just can't do this sort of thing any more. People should force themselves to watch this, so they know what is really going on there," he said.
China's embassy in Britain strongly rejected the claims.
A spokesman said: "I have not seen this footage so am yet to be convinced of its authenticity. The distribution of the fur trade happens mostly in the European and American markets, so the fashion industries in Europe and America are to be at least partly blamed for this. I do not agree with the call for a boycott of Chinese goods."
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