FW: (CN) Advocates for animal protection legislation

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ACTAsia for Animals [info]

Sunday, April 04, 2010 5:47 PM

john

Advocates for animal protection legislation

 

UPDATE        http://www.actasia.org/index/index.php/legislation2

                                                                            

                                              April 2010

 

ACTAsia's team of international experts advise on draft legislation for

animals in China.

 

Dear John,

A draft animal protection law was created in 2009 by a committee of law

academics, chaired by Professor Chang Jiwen. However, the draft has recently

been changed into an 'anti-cruelty law'.

All animal protectionists, including the members of ACTAsia, are obviously

very pleased about the beginning of the process to create animal protection

legislation in China. It is potentially a big step forward, provided it

really meets its goal of protecting animals. Any amendment of laws once they

are adopted has proven to be very hard and time-consuming in other

countries, especially as animal welfare doesn't have a high priority on most

political agenda's. Therefore, ACTAsia is putting all its efforts in trying

to make the law as animal-friendly as possible right from the beginning. 

We have set up a team of experts, which includes lawyers from the US and

Europe who have specialised in animal protection legislation. With their

advice we have submitted extensive recommendations to the drafting committee

for improvement of the first draft animal protection law.  

When the second draft was released, which focuses on anti-cruelty measures,

we have also provided our feedback. Our China Manager, Isobel Zhang,

expressed our concerns at the International Forum on Chinese Legislation for

the Protection and Management of Animals, which was held on the 26th and

27th of March.

 

Our main concerns about shifting from animal protection to a narrower focus

on anti-cruelty are that:

-          The basic needs of animals, and the human duty of care to meet

these needs, are not mentioned. Animals have intrinsic value and should be

protected against exploitation, neglect and cruelty.

-          The core concepts of the draft -‘cruelty’ and ‘unnecessary

suffering’ – are as such vague, and provide loopholes to justify various

cases of institutionalised animal abuse, for economic reasons.

 

There is still a long way to go before animal protection legislation in

China becomes reality. The draft law has to be submitted to the National

People's Congress first. Then, if passed, it must go through the State

Council and pass three readings from the National Party Congress Standing

Committee before being adopted as law. There is no guarantee how long this

process will take within China’s social and economic context. Together with

our national and international legal experts and animal protection groups,

we will continue to promote animal welfare legislation in the best interest

of animals. Are you joining us?

 

Thank you,

Pei F. Su

Executive Director

ACTAsia for Animals

 

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