Dogs crammed in a cage at a dog meat festival in Yulin in 2016. Photo:Getty
China on its way to banning consumption of dogs
By Patryk Krych | The World Daily APRIL 10th 2020
Following the omission of dogs from an official list of animals deemed approvable for human consumption by the country’s agriculture ministry, China’s government has signalled an end to the cultural practice.
China’s Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs, in their new draft policy, referred to dogs as “special companion animals” and not a species recognised as livestock, internationally. Therefore, amid present concerns over human welfare, as well as a new value placed on the prevention of disease transmission from animals to humans (with the recent coronavirus pandemic in mind), dogs and all further species of canine have been placed on a “whitelist” draft of animals that are to be banned from treatment as livestock, not to be raised for consumption.
The draft version of the whitelist was publish by the ministry on Wednesday. Cats had also been added to the whitelist, omitted from the concept of ethical consumption, but not with as much specific strain or further comment from the ministry. The overall move was cited as the “progress of human civilisation”.
The creation of the draft was described to be a “game changer moment for animal welfare in China,” by Wendy Higgins of Humane Society International (HSI), in a statement to The Guardian. “That signals a major shift, recognising that most people in China don’t eat dogs and cats and want an end to the theft of their companion animals for a meat trade that only a small percentage of the population indulge in.”
It is said that somewhere between 10 and 20 million dogs are killed on average in China, per year, for the purpose of human consumption, the HSI estimated. For cats, the figure is places at somewhere around 4 million a year, by Animals Asia.
“Not only does it cause enormous animal suffering, but it is also almost entirely fuelled by crime and, perhaps most significantly right now, poses an undeniable human health threat with the risk of diseases such as rabies and cholera,” Higgins added.
Recently, the city of Shenzhen had been the first in all of mainland China to impose an official ban on the consumption, as well as consumption-based production, of dog and cat meat. This is thought to be the first signal from he government of China that the ban could spread from there, and be imposed all across the country. Currently, the draft policy awaits review, seeking public feedback on until 8 May, the ministry announced.
“The signal is the first ever from a ministry that dogs are not food animals,” said international head of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Paul Littlefair, to the Guardian. “[This] leaves the door open for local governments to follow Shenzhen’s lead.”
By Patryk Krych | © The World Daily 2020
