Animals Asia's 2nd China Companion Animal Symposium

[Guest guest]

12 November 2007

 

China’s animal welfare groups call for humane veterinary drugs

 

A total of 39 Chinese animal welfare groups voted

to call on the Central Government to make humane

drugs available for companion animals at a

symposium in the southern province of Guangdong this weekend.

 

The unanimous resolution was passed at the 2nd

China Companion Animal Symposium in Guangzhou --

the dog and cat eating capital of Asia.

 

The meeting, organised by Hong Kong-headquartered

Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) and jointly funded

and hosted by AAF and the Humane Society

International (HSI), also voted unanimously to

call for an end to the country’s brutal dog culls

and the slaughter of cats and dogs for the meat

and fur trades and for the authorities to

introduce de-sexing, vaccination and public

education programmes for companion animals. All

the delegate groups voted to form a network – the

Animals Asia Friendship Alliance – to work together to advance these goals.

 

Delegate Dr John Wu, who runs Leader Animal

Clinic in Guangzhou, said the biggest problem

faced by veterinarians in China was the lack of

internationally recognised drugs for treating a

range of common ailments in pets.

 

“The government’s focus is still on agriculture,

so the drugs available are for farm animals, Dr

Wu said. “But the importation of common drugs for

cats and dog is still illegal. We cannot get a

licence to import these drugs.” He said the

problem was not caused by a deliberate refusal by

the government to allow such drugs into the

country; it was because the authorities did not see the issue as a priority.

 

“Meanwhile cats and dogs are suffering and vets

and pet owners are being forced to buy drugs on

the black market,” Dr Wu said. He said that many

vets also used medicines made for human

consumption and had to guess at the right dosage.

 

One of the most-needed drugs was sodium

pentobarbital, an anaesthetic commonly used in the West.

 

Animals Asia Founder and CEO Jill Robinson MBE

said the animal welfare groups that attended the

conference would go back to their local

authorities and ask that the issue of drugs for

companion animals be given higher priority. She

hoped the authorities would realise that it was

in their interests to introduce legislation to

allow the importation of such drugs.

 

Ms Robinson said many pet owners were reluctant

to take their dogs and cats to be de-sexed

because of the risk of complications from the

sub-standard and inappropriate anaesthetics that

China’s vets were forced to use. “This is leading

to massive problems with over-population and

abandoned animals, an increased risk of rabies

and ultimately an increase in cruel and reactive

culls. The properly licensed drugs would allow

the authorities in China to greatly reduce the

number of stray animals on the streets.”

 

Dr Shu Dai, Veterinary Affairs Manager for Hill’s

Pet Nutrition China Division said another big

problem for China’s vets was a lack of training

in the treatment of domestic animals. “Most

universities still only teach vets how to care

for livestock,” he said. “Only a few universities

in the bigger cities are now starting to offer

veterinary courses that cover companion animals.”

 

Many of the delegates spoke of the challenges

they faced in saving and homing stray cats and

dogs and the need for laws to protect domestic

animals from abuse and neglect. They shared

harrowing accounts of cruelty and personal

hardship, and resolved to work together to bring about change.

 

Christie Yang, AAF’s Guangzhou-based China

Relations Director and convenor of the symposium,

said such co-operation was essential in a country

as vast as China. “This symposium provides an

opportunity for these people to speak for animals

in one voice, a louder voice,” she said. “And

it’s no use just blaming people. It’s much better

if we can provide some suggestions.”

 

Millions of cats and dogs are slaughtered for

consumption in China annually – and often they

suffer deliberate, horrific abuse in the mistaken

belief that torture equals taste. A gaping hole

in the law leaves them with no protection – only

wildlife and livestock are covered by animal welfare legislation in China.

 

Guest speakers included HSI’s Dr Barry Kellogg,

who gave the delegates practical advice on

treating common ailments and how to ensure a

pain-free death for animals when euthanasia was

the only option and Dr Patrick Chong of the Hong

Kong Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to

Animals, who spoke on the benefits of de-sexing companion animals.

 

Ms Robinson said the symposium showed that there

was a groundswell of change, with community

concern for companion animals rapidly increasing

and authorities becoming more aware of the need

for animal welfare. “The 39 groups that attended

this meeting represent the millions of ordinary

Chinese who want to see an end to the torture of

animals in their country. Imagine this forum

happening 10 or even five years ago – it simply

wouldn’t have been possible,” she said. “Caring

people in China are speaking out and their voices can now steer change.”

 

The 2nd China Companion Animal Symposium, which

started on Saturday (10 November) and wound up

this morning (Monday, 12 November), was held at

the Ocean Plaza Hotel in Guangzhou.

 

 

 

Ends

 

 

Angela Leary

Media Manager

Animals Asia Foundation

2/F, Room 04-05,

Nam Wo Hong Building

148 Wing Lok Street,

Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 2791 2225

http://www.animalsasia.org/