[PsYcNeT]

I can be though, because when

a) it's government sanctioned (legal)
b) culturally normative
c) you live in an information-isolated locale (rural China is without internet access for the most part)
d) the only rumblings you may ever hear regarding animal cruelty are from foreigners who don't care about your way of life, cultures, traditions, or means

Look at it this way, practicing Hindus think that cows are sacred. Rural Chinese (might) know that western people think dogs/living animals are sacred. Neither of these groups really gives a #### about what these other groups think. When was the last time you felt bad eating a hamburger because a Hindu person considers it a sacred animal?

As cliche of a position as it is, the change has to come from within, especially within a reserved and (progressively less) globally isolated culture as you will find in China.