(CN) China plans first animal welfare law - Backlash after thousands of dogs are slaughtered to prevent spread of rabies / China city kills 36,000 dogs after rabies deaths

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/16/china-plans-animal-welfare-law

 

 

 

 

China plans first animal welfare law

 

 

Backlash after thousands of dogs are slaughtered to prevent spread of rabies

 

 

 

 

 

* Jonathan Watts <http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jonathanwatts> in

Beijing

* <http://www.guardian.co.uk/> guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 16 June 2009

13.36 BST

 

Chinese legal experts are drawing up proposals for the country's first

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/animalwelfare> animal welfare law, which could

criminalise the brutal culling of dogs and other forms of pet maltreatment.

 

The recommendations, which will be submitted to the government by the end of

the year, come after a public backlash against the authorities for

slaughtering dogs to prevent the spread of rabies.

 

Law professors at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences have been in

discussions since last December with Britain's RSPCA and the US-based

International Fund for Animal Welfare.

 

The draft proposals are said to borrow ideas from the UK on sterilisation

programmes and computer chip implants, but the main focus is on preventing

maltreatment of <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/animals> animals.

 

Currently, only endangered species are protected. There is no penalty for

hurting or killing other animals sold for food or as pets. Local governments

have organised mass killings, including burying dogs alive and beating them

to death, to halt the spread of rabies, which is a major cause of human

death in <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/china> China.

 

In the past month alone, authorities in Hanzhong, Shaanxi province, rounded

up and killed 22,000 dogs after eight people died of rabies. Pet lovers were

also up in arms after authorities in Heihe, Heilongjiang province, announced

a cull of every dog in the town after an outbreak.

 

Under the new proposal, the emphasis would be on owners registering and

vaccinating their dogs. Anyone caught severely maltreating pets would be

warned, fined, or - in the worst cases - sentenced to prison.

 

Chang Jiwen, the law professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who

heads the drafting team, said there was growing support for animal rights

among the public and the government.

 

" China has begun to be aware of the importance of animal welfare because it

touches on the economy, trade, religion, and ethics, " he said when asked

about the prospects of the proposal becoming law. " The future is bright, but

the path ahead will be tortuous. "

 

The Hong Kong-based office of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to

Animals said the drafting of an animal rights document was a positive step,

especially if it were enacted.

 

" We have yet to see the details, but any animal welfare law would be

welcome, " said Twiggy Cheung, deputy director of the group's China Outreach

programme. " On the mainland, you see a lot of animal abuse and torture. We

feel sorry for animals and also for the people, because there is no

guideline for what is right and wrong. That is why a new law is needed. "

 

She agreed that good regulations could prevent rabies without the mass

killings of dogs. " The law ought to cover animal population control and

responsible pet ownership, which means people should vaccinate their animals

from rabies and other contagious disease. "

 

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55F27V20090616

 

 

China city kills 36,000 dogs after rabies deaths

 

 

Tue Jun 16, 2009 6:11am EDT

 

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese city has killed 36,000 stray and pet dogs in a

bid to wipe out rabies, state media said on Tuesday, as the country

considers a draft law recognizing animal rights and making such a cull

illegal.

 

Rabies has killed 12 people in Hanzhong, in the northern province of

Shaanxi, where more than 6,000 people had been bitten or scratched since

late May, the China Daily said.

 

" The monitoring data showed that the danger caused by the dogs which carried

rabies virus has increased and epidemic prevention and control is urgent, "

Xing Tianhu, deputy mayor of the city, was quoted as saying.

 

International animal rights groups have criticized China for cruelty, saying

millions of animals raised for their pelts, including cats and dogs, are

mistreated and inhumanely killed.

 

Raising dogs was banned under the rule of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong as

a bourgeois pastime and was only made legal a few years ago as living

standards rose.

 

Animal protection organizations expressed concern over the Hanzhong cull.

 

" The mass removal of dogs can result in the increased movement of dogs of

unknown disease status from surrounding areas, thereby actually facilitating

disease transmission and increasing the threat to human and animal health, "

Peter Williams, China director for the World Society for Protection of

Animals, was quoted as saying.

 

China's first law to recognize " animal welfare " and include domestic animals

is in the draft stage.

 

" Once it gets passed, the abuses of animals, such as the Hanzhong dog

killings, is expected to stop, " Chang Jiwen, a professor who led the

drafting team, was quoted as saying.

 

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Nick Macfie)