Project update - April 2006

CHINA'S ANIMAL WELFARE GROUPS CALL FOR END TO DOG AND CAT EATING

Guangzhou: More than 30 Chinese animal welfare groups voted to push for a ban on dog and cat eating at a meeting in the southern province of Guangdong this weekend.

The unanimous resolution was passed at the 1st China Companion Animal Symposium in Guangzhou - the dog and cat eating capital of Asia.

The meeting, organised by Animals Asia Foundation (AAF), also called for an end to the slaughter of cats and dogs for the fur trade and for the authorities to introduce countrywide de-sexing programmes for companion animals.

AAF founder and CEO, Jill Robinson, said the historic meeting, which brought together 32 grassroots organisations from around the country, plus international bodies, such as Britain's RSPCA, was the first of its kind in China. She said it was an appropriate milestone for the current Year of the Dog.

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 Min, AAF's China Relations Manager, based in Guangzhou, said. "When we work with the government we should not just criticise, we need to offer help and solutions as well."

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.

Guest speaker Professor Song Wei, a lecturer in law at the University of Science and Technology of China, told the 50-strong symposium that the most effective way to gain legal protection for companion animals was to amend existing legislation at the local level. He said such laws currently focused on "controlling" animals and "limiting" their numbers, but ignored 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."

The symposium also heard that progressive provincial authorities were also bringing about change, lowering or eradicating dog licence fees and even - in the case of Hainan - introducing basic animal welfare regulations.

Zhang Lu Ping of the Beijing Human and Animal Environmental Protection Education Centre said she was confident that the momentum would continue to grow at this grassroots level. Ms Zhang, who has been rescuing animals and lobbying for their rights for 10 years, said that despite the headway, the enactment of welfare laws remained the most formidable task.

Li Yunjun, who runs Guangzhou animal shelter Private Pet Home, said the most important aspect of his organisation's work was education. "Very few young people who live in the city will eat dog or cat today," Mr Li said. "That is because they are aware of the cruelty involved. They think it is ugly and unacceptable. So education is the key."

Another delegate, Guangzhou veterinary surgeon, Dr John Wu, agrees. He has a mission to educate the Chinese public and fellow vets about the benefits of de-sexing cats and dogs in the hope of reducing the number of abandoned animals. "Most Chinese people think it is cruel to neuter their pets and some love their animals so much that they want them to have babies - or they think they can make money by selling the babies." Dr Wu, who runs Leader Animal Clinic, said it was crucial to change this way of thinking, now, while the trend of keeping pets was sweeping China's middle-class.

With plans under way for a Companion Animal Roadshow in September, Animals Asia plans to build on the momentum of the symposium by providing a platform for discussion and reform for local groups, provincial authorities and the general public across 10 cities in China.

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. "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 - it's time to use their voices for change."

The 1st China Companion Animal Symposium was held at the Ocean Plaza Hotel in Guangzhou on Saturday (March 25).

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