(CN) Discussion of draft Chinese animal welfare bill ignites over eating dogs and cats

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2010:

 

 

Discussion of draft Chinese animal welfare bill ignites over eating

dogs and cats

 

BEIJING--Released in late 2009 to promote public discussion,

a draft Chinese animal welfare act produced by an academic committee

had by mid-February 2010 generated a media storm nationwide.

" The proposed draft will be submitted to relevant government

departments in April, " reported Deng Shasha, editor of China Daily,

the largest Chinese newspaper. " Before being adopted as a law, "

Deng Shasha explained, " the draft must go through the State Council

and then receive three readings at the National People's Congress

Standing Committee, the top legislative authority. The draft is not

included in the legislative agenda for 2008-2013 released by the

National People's Congress Standing Committee, " Deng Shasha

cautioned, " indicating it might be a few years before it is adopted

as a law. "

" It may be months or a year before the draft bill is actually

voted on by lawmakers, but the plan is to submit it to the

legislature and State Council by April, " elaborated Xinhua News

Agency editor Li Xianzhi. Li Xianzhi paraphrased drafting committee

chair Chang Jiwen, director of the Social Law Research Department

at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The most vocal opposition to the draft law--and the most

vocal praise for it-- concerned a ban on eating dogs and cats

described by Chang Jiwen to staff of the Xinhua News Agency, China

Daily, Beijing Legal Evening News, and Global Times on January 25,

2010.

The ban on eating dogs and cats was not in the English

translation produced two months earlier by Royal SPCA senior manager

of international programs Paul Littlefair. According to the

Littlefair translation, Article 162 of the draft bill provides only

that, " People's Governments at the provincial level may prohibit or

restrict the slaughter of dogs, cats and other animals in their

jurisdiction. "

Littlefair and Grace Ge Gabriel, Asia director for the

International Fund for Animal Welfare, were members of the drafting

committee, along with one Australian academic of Chinese descent,

Chang Jiwen, and 17 other Chinese university professors.

Speaking after Chang Jiwen on January 25, China National

Native Produce & Animal By-Products Import and Export Corporation

spokesperson Shi Yufan told the assembled media that her company

supports the draft bill. " It may help remove trade barriers faced by

China's exporters of products such as wool and feathers, " the

Beijing Legal Evening News said.

" It is everyone's responsibility to treat animals well and

use them in the most humane way, " Shi Yufan stated. " We human

beings take too much from them, " Shi Yufan continued, " but never

learn to repay them. "

Beijing attorney Lu Junxiang, of the Dongwei Law Firm,

predicted that the draft bill would not take effect, because it

" fails to consider the people who eat dog and cat meat as a folk

custom. "

Chang Jiwen " conceded that the draft will respect local

cultures, such as Korean eating habits, and may exclude them from

the ban, " wrote Li Xianzhi.

" Though most Western cultures view the consumption of dog or

cat meat as a taboo, " Li Xianshi noted, " the practice has been

considered a cultural tradition for those living in China's southern

provinces like Guangdong and Jiangxi, as well as in northeastern

provinces neighboring the Republic of Korea and the Democratic

People's Republic of Korea. "

Elsewhere, Chang Jiwen said, " few people still eat dog or

cat meat in China. "

Informally polling more than 100,000 users, the Chinese web

portal Sohu.com found that 52% of respondents would ban eating dogs

and cats, and 48% would punish the offense--but 33% oppose such a

ban and 45% would not punish eating dogs and cats. This division of

opinion is far wider than the appearance of near-unanimity that the

Chinese government usually seeks before introducing new legislation.

Paraphrasing the Chongqing Evening News, Liu Zhen and Lucy

Hornby of Reuters noted opposition from officials in Jiangsu

province, where dogs are often eaten.

" Cooking them alive must be punished, but which meat to eat

should be people's own choice, " asserted a commentary in the Nanjing

edition of China Daily.

Veterinarian Kati Loeffler, an IFAW consultant best known

for treating giant panda bears in China, cautioned members of the

Asian Animal Protection Network that the debate over eating dogs and

cats might sidetrack momentum toward passing the draft animal welfare

act.

" The issue here is not whether the consumption of dog meat

should be punished, " Loeffler wrote. " The issue is the development

of a law that addresses the welfare of animals. Initiating argument

over an issue that challenges Chinese tradition will weaken public

support for the law, " Loeffler worried. " Of course I think the

slaughter of dogs is wrong, as I think about the slaughter of any

sentient creature. But the development of an animal welfare law in

China needs to focus on the issue that everyone agrees on: the need

to protect animals who are directly under the care or power of human

beings. The politics of the drafting of this law have been weak from

the start and have now slid badly sideways, " Loeffler said.

" There are still many difficulties to overcome before

legislators incorporate the article against consumption of dog and

cat meat into the draft law, " Chang Jiwen acknowledged. The Beijing

Legal Evening News reported that four months of public consultation

had generated more than 300 emails and more than 400 telephone calls

to Chang Jiwen. " Some said they cannot accept the proposals related

to 'animal protection' or 'welfare for animals' because they think

that the first priority is to protect human welfare, " Chang Jiwen

said. " The panel decided to change the name of the draft bill to Law

on Anti-cruelty to Animals, " to get around that objection.

 

Lab animals

 

Generating less public debate, but much concern among animal

advocates, is that the draft bill sought to incorporate whatever

animal welfare provisions and regulations existed in previous law.

This meant that some parts of the draft bill are quite detailed and

specific, sometimes in problematic ways, while others include few

specifics and leave drafting enforcement regulations until later.

As public discussion of the draft bill intensified, new

rules governing the use of laboratory animals came into effect in

Chongqing, Wang Huazhong of China Daily reported on January 28.

" Lab animals, who already have their contributions engraved

on a monument here, will be tested while under anesthetic, and not

in the presence of the same species during experimentation,

according to new rules introduced by the local science and technology

commission, " Wang Huazhong wrote. " Institutes and individuals

conducting scientific and medical research are required to follow the

management provisions for lab animals. "

The monument in honor of lab animals was dedicated by

Chongqing university researchers in 2003.

" Every year in Chongqing about 130,000 animals, including

rodents, are used in labs, " Wang Huazhong noted. " Research

institutes in Chongqing breed annually more than 170,000 animals,

including rabbits, dogs, and 50,000 mice and rats. They use 80% of

the animals for scientific and medical research. Use of lab animals

nationwide is increasing at an annual rate of 20% to 30% in the past

three years, " Wang Huazhong finished, citing Chinese Association

for Laboratory Animal Sciences data.

Unclear was whether the new Chongqing rules were introduced

separately from the provisions governing lab animals in the draft

animal welfare bill, or represent a local attempt to implement the

draft provisions before they become national law.

--Merritt Clifton

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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