In China, animal rights activism is flourishing with increasing numbers of people seeing animals as pets, not protein.

For centuries, China has raised dogs, cats and other animals for food and for use in traditional medicines. But as the country grows in affluence, social attitudes are changing. Pet ownership, once condemned by the Communist Party as bourgeois, is flourishing. And with no animal welfare laws except for wild animals, growing numbers of Chinese are using blogs, websites and the streets to protest against the mistreatment of animals. On this edition of 101 East, we look at the growing fight for animal rights in China.