Animal welfare legislation in China

http://www.animalsasia.org/index.php?module=2&menupos=8&submenupos=1&lg=en. ,

The dogs at Maoshan Animal Market huddle as one at the back of their enclosures. In one filthy cage, more than 100 crush together in wretchedness. It's a humid spring morning, not cold, but many are shivering. It's a different kind of warmth they are seeking. One by one, these trembling animals will be dragged out and slowly bludgeoned to death, while their terrified pack mates look on, cowering and whimpering, wondering which one will be next.

The market, on the outskirts of China's bustling southern city of Guangzhou, supplies the surrounding restaurants with dog meat, a specialty dish favoured by well off provincials.
The locals believe the meat will taste better if, at the moment of death, the dogs are panic- stricken, electric with adrenalin. So their death comes slowly. First a heavy blow to the snout with a rough-hewn truncheon resembling a baseball bat, then the dogs are left to absorb their pain for a minute or so, their cries curdling the blood of the other dogs in line. Often they stagger up to their tormentors, tails feebly wagging, in the hope of a reprieve. But there's no mercy here. The beating continues at a torturous pace until the dogs, in and out of consciousness, finally succumb to the blows.

One by one, these trembling animals will be dragged out and slowly bludgeoned to death, while their terrified pack-mates look on, cowering and whimpering, wondering which one will be next.

Brutally slaughtered

Animals Asia Foundation, founder and CEO Jill Robinson says millions of dogs are brutally slaughtered in China each year and most of them are deliberately tortured. Other killing methods include electrocution and hanging. Some are boiled alive.

'It's absolutely heartbreaking. Before they arrive at the markets, these dogs often spend three or four days on the back of trucks, crammed together in tiny cages. They get nothing to eat and they don't even have access to water. If they're lucky, they'll be hosed down just to keep them alive.'

Sadly, this is just one of the injustices suffered by dogs in China.

Pedigrees are routinely tossed out of middle-class homes as new breeds become fashionable. Starving strays are common on the streets and the authorities have no interest in humane euthanasia.

Culling days are routine in southern provinces, when bands of municipal workers take to the streets to bludgeon dogs to death, both strays and pets, sometimes in full view of their horrified owners.

Robinson, a Briton, who has been awarded an MBE for her work in promoting animal welfare, says that while there is a long way to go, the concept of animal welfare is gradually seeping into the Chinese psyche. 'I feel the momentum for change is building. And the great thing is that it is coming from within China.' AAF has launched a China-wide campaign called Friends %u2026 or Food?' to tackle the mammoth problems of cruelty and neglect and, specifically, to end dog and cat eating.

Cat and dog eating capital

Robinson has reason to be optimistic. Her group recently hosted the 1st China Companion Animal Symposium in Guangzhou ' the dog and cat eating capital of China 32 animal welfare groups, representing about 250,000 people from around China, voted unanimously to push for a ban on the consumption of dogs and cats. 'Imagine this forum happening 10 or even five years ago, it simply wouldn't have been possible,%' she says.

The most obvious hurdle facing animal activists is the dearth of legal protection for companion animals in China. There simply is none. Professor Song Wei, a lecturer in law at the University of Science and Technology in Hefei, Anhui province, says the country's legal structure is so complex and so vast that the most effective way to tackle the problem is to amend existing legislation at the local level. Such laws currently focus on controlling animals and limiting their numbers, but ignore welfare issues.

'Along with legislation, we also need to see a shift in attitudes, and a change in our culture. We must combine a loving heart with the law,'Prof Song said, adding that such a shift had already started. 'There has been much progress even in the past five years. Abuse cases today always spark huge public outrage. There is much more awareness of animal welfare.'

A new generation of Chinese is leading the charge says young and urbane Li Yunjun. He started Private Pet Home in Panyu, just south of Guangzhou three years ago. Li's organisation rescues and homes strays, but focuses on education.

'My parents eat dog and cat meat even though they know about the cruelty. They do not accept what I do. They don't understand why I should care about animals.' But Li says very few young, urban people would eat dog and cat meat now. 'They see it as ugly and unacceptable.'
 

The practice is more common in the countryside, where men boast about the amount of dog meat they can consume in one sitting. Li says he is optimistic that dog and cat eating will eventually die out, but he says this will have to be driven by a change in attitudes, not just laws. 'Corruption is still a huge problem. Laws would help, but those that want to keep the industry going just need to pay money.'

It is in mainland China that the biggest challenges remain. Wu Jun of the Zhuhai Animal Protection Association in Guangdong province, says it is time he shared a shameful secret to illustrate the extent of ignorance that he and others fighting to end cruelty are facing.

'My wife and I once went to a restaurant and saw meat being sliced off the animals while they were still alive,' Wu says, struggling to continue. 'I have not been able to tell this to a foreigner before. Dogs and cats can't speak, but we can. So we must speak out even louder.'

The horrors of Maoshan - Part 1http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=528694&in_page_id=1766&in_page_id=1766&expand=true#StartComments


In memory of Lucy our dear little donkey, rescued from a saleyard and unfortunately passed away whilst in our care in 2006 - Sweet Lucy we miss you.

http://www.animalsasia.org/index.php?module=2&menupos=8&submenupos=1&lg=en. ,

The dogs at Maoshan Animal Market huddle as one at the back of their enclosures. In one filthy cage, more than 100 crush together in wretchedness. It's a humid spring morning, not cold, but many are shivering. It's a different kind of warmth they are seeking. One by one, these trembling animals will be dragged out and slowly bludgeoned to death, while their terrified pack mates look on, cowering and whimpering, wondering which one will be next.

The market, on the outskirts of China's bustling southern city of Guangzhou, supplies the surrounding restaurants with dog meat, a specialty dish favoured by well off provincials.
The locals believe the meat will taste better if, at the moment of death, the dogs are panic- stricken, electric with adrenalin. So their death comes slowly. First a heavy blow to the snout with a rough-hewn truncheon resembling a baseball bat, then the dogs are left to absorb their pain for a minute or so, their cries curdling the blood of the other dogs in line. Often they stagger up to their tormentors, tails feebly wagging, in the hope of a reprieve. But there's no mercy here. The beating continues at a torturous pace until the dogs, in and out of consciousness, finally succumb to the blows.

One by one, these trembling animals will be dragged out and slowly bludgeoned to death, while their terrified pack-mates look on, cowering and whimpering, wondering which one will be next.

Brutally slaughtered

Animals Asia Foundation, founder and CEO Jill Robinson says millions of dogs are brutally slaughtered in China each year and most of them are deliberately tortured. Other killing methods include electrocution and hanging. Some are boiled alive.

'It's absolutely heartbreaking. Before they arrive at the markets, these dogs often spend three or four days on the back of trucks, crammed together in tiny cages. They get nothing to eat and they don't even have access to water. If they're lucky, they'll be hosed down just to keep them alive.'

Sadly, this is just one of the injustices suffered by dogs in China.

Pedigrees are routinely tossed out of middle-class homes as new breeds become fashionable. Starving strays are common on the streets and the authorities have no interest in humane euthanasia.

Culling days are routine in southern provinces, when bands of municipal workers take to the streets to bludgeon dogs to death, both strays and pets, sometimes in full view of their horrified owners.

Robinson, a Briton, who has been awarded an MBE for her work in promoting animal welfare, says that while there is a long way to go, the concept of animal welfare is gradually seeping into the Chinese psyche. 'I feel the momentum for change is building. And the great thing is that it is coming from within China.' AAF has launched a China-wide campaign called Friends %u2026 or Food?' to tackle the mammoth problems of cruelty and neglect and, specifically, to end dog and cat eating.

Cat and dog eating capital

Robinson has reason to be optimistic. Her group recently hosted the 1st China Companion Animal Symposium in Guangzhou ' the dog and cat eating capital of China 32 animal welfare groups, representing about 250,000 people from around China, voted unanimously to push for a ban on the consumption of dogs and cats. 'Imagine this forum happening 10 or even five years ago, it simply wouldn't have been possible,%' she says.

The most obvious hurdle facing animal activists is the dearth of legal protection for companion animals in China. There simply is none. Professor Song Wei, a lecturer in law at the University of Science and Technology in Hefei, Anhui province, says the country's legal structure is so complex and so vast that the most effective way to tackle the problem is to amend existing legislation at the local level. Such laws currently focus on controlling animals and limiting their numbers, but ignore welfare issues.

'Along with legislation, we also need to see a shift in attitudes, and a change in our culture. We must combine a loving heart with the law,'Prof Song said, adding that such a shift had already started. 'There has been much progress even in the past five years. Abuse cases today always spark huge public outrage. There is much more awareness of animal welfare.'

A new generation of Chinese is leading the charge says young and urbane Li Yunjun. He started Private Pet Home in Panyu, just south of Guangzhou three years ago. Li's organisation rescues and homes strays, but focuses on education.

'My parents eat dog and cat meat even though they know about the cruelty. They do not accept what I do. They don't understand why I should care about animals.' But Li says very few young, urban people would eat dog and cat meat now. 'They see it as ugly and unacceptable.'
 

The practice is more common in the countryside, where men boast about the amount of dog meat they can consume in one sitting. Li says he is optimistic that dog and cat eating will eventually die out, but he says this will have to be driven by a change in attitudes, not just laws. 'Corruption is still a huge problem. Laws would help, but those that want to keep the industry going just need to pay money.'

It is in mainland China that the biggest challenges remain. Wu Jun of the Zhuhai Animal Protection Association in Guangdong province, says it is time he shared a shameful secret to illustrate the extent of ignorance that he and others fighting to end cruelty are facing.

'My wife and I once went to a restaurant and saw meat being sliced off the animals while they were still alive,' Wu says, struggling to continue. 'I have not been able to tell this to a foreigner before. Dogs and cats can't speak, but we can. So we must speak out even louder.'

The horrors of Maoshan - Part 1http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=528694&in_page_id=1766&in_page_id=1766&expand=true#StartComments


In memory of Lucy our dear little donkey, rescued from a saleyard and unfortunately passed away whilst in our care in 2006 - Sweet Lucy we miss you.

Re the urgent need for comprehensive animal welfare legislation in China.

We the undersigned are writing to congratulate the Chinese government in the progress being made to introduce legislation to outlaw unacceptable practices involving cruelty to other living creatures and of work being done with agencies such as AAF and WSPA.  

We would ask that the government urgently introduces comprehensive legislation to protect China%u2019s animals from being subject to abusive and cruel practices and addresses the need for humane treatment of all animals including those in domestic households, agriculture, food markets and fur farms and the protection and conservation of wildlife.

Thank you to the China Wildlife Conservation Association and the Sichuan Forestry Department for closing bear farms and releasing 500 bears into the care of Animals Asia. Please continue to promote the herbal and synthetic alternatives to bear bile and urgently outlaw the practice of farming bears for bile products.

The images we have seen and the accounts related by visitors to your country despoil the good reputation of China In the light of the upcoming 2008 Beijing "Green Olympics", it is truly tragic that facilities, practices, and activities such as these are still in existence.

We urge you to do all that you can to encourage the Chinese Government to implement comprehensive legislation to protect both wild and domestic animals from all forms of abuse. We look forward to hearing of positive changes in the immediate future.

Yours truly,

On behalf of the undersigned.