The 50 members of the “Let Blessings and Wisdom Develop” Buddhist group left Beijing in a nine vehicle convoy last Friday, driving for half a day with their cargo of snakes into the countryside of Hebei province.
As soon as they reached their destination, they chanted a ritual and released the snakes. However, they had been soon spotted by a man from Miao Erdong who alerted the rest of the village.
The police had been referred to as, and rapidly impounded three of the group’s vehicles, as the snakes slithered into the undergrowth. Li Guohua, the head of the village committee, stated snakes had been soon spotted inside some of their homes.
“There is one girl in our village who has Down’s syndrome and her parents are now scared of leaving her by herself in the house,” he stated. “I do not mind Buddhists releasing animals, but they should not disturb us,” he added.
The practice of “Fang Sheng”, or compassionate release, has been a Buddhist tradition in China for thousands of years, stemming from the teaching that it is feasible to boost your karmic balance by undertaking good deeds to animals.
( via telegraph.co.uk )