Towards a ban on the consumption of dog and cat meat in China?
Yes, the COVID-19 epidemic could have an unexpected and pleasing fallout for the fate of thousands of dogs and cats in the Middle Kingdom!
For the very first time, dogs and cats - whose meat is still consumed by a minority of Chinese - are not on the official list of "edible" animals.
Established by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and published last Wednesday, this list identifies animals that can be raised for their meat, their fur and for medical purposes.However, dogs and cats are now excluded! Even better, the document stipulates in the appendix that these animals should no longer be treated as livestock, but as pets.
If this text still needs to be submitted for comment until May 8, 2020, it could well be the subject of future regulations extended to the whole country. The whole of China could thus follow the example of Shenzhen, the first Chinese city to ban the consumption of dog meat at the beginning of April.
This decision comes after Beijing banned the marketing and eating of wild animal meat in February, a practice suspected in the emergence of the new coronavirus.
The risk of traffic still present
While we can rejoice in this proposed ban, animal protection associations are not too quick to cry victory, aware of the risk of trafficking that remains for both the trade in wild animals and that of farm animals. company.
One of the infamous examples of this traffic is that of the Yulin festival during which thousands of dogs are killed for their meat. Most of the animals consumed during this horror festival are stolen pet dogs or stray dogs captured and then illegally transported across the country in appalling conditions before being beaten to death or scalded alive.
And, even if most Chinese condemn these practices, the pen alties for traffickers remain extremely rare in China, for lack of animal cruelty law.
The risk that bad habits will take over, once the crisis is over, is unfortunately also present. For the record, the trade in wild animals was also banned in China during the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic in 2002-2003, which was also probably caused by the consumption of civet or bat meat. mouse.A ban quickly forgotten as evidenced by the current situation