"When a Buddhist enters the Way, he utters the following sentence: “In taking the Dharma as refuge, I promise not to harm any being.” It is clear that this promise also applies to animals. … Fifty years after the death of the Buddha, Emperor Ashoka, who embraced Buddhism and vegetarianism at the same time, promulgated several edicts calling for animals to be treated kindly. Most notably, he had precepts engraved on a stone pillar enjoining his subjects to treat animals with kindness and forbidding animal sacrifices throughout his territory. Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhists are strictly vegetarian. … For the Buddhist in general, to be vegetarian or vegan (especially in industrialized countries) is a means of manifesting his or her compassion toward animals. … Going beyond merely being vegetarian, many Buddhist practitioners have regularly followed the practice of buying animals marked for slaughter and then freeing them in their natural habitat or handing them over to shelters where they are well treated."