China, where at least 10 million dogs are still killed for meat each year, has drawn up a draft policy to reclassify dogs as ‘pets’ rather than ‘food’ in a potential ‘game-changer’ for animal welfare, agency reports indicate.
The country’s government issued a draft list of animals considered fit to be used as livestock on Wednesday night, which included pigs, cows, chickens and sheep.
Dogs did not feature on the list, and were later named a ‘special companion animal’ and one not internationally recognised as livestock by the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs.
It comes after years of campaigning from animal rights groups, as well as growing public concern over prevention of disease transmission from animals to humans amid the coronavirus pandemic.
It is estimated by Humane Society International that at least 10 million dogs are still killed in China for meat each year, with many of them being stolen pets.
However, canine consumption has become increasingly unpopular among the public, with one Chinese city recently making history by becoming the first authority in the mainland to ban the consumption and production of dog and cat meat.
China’s ministry of agriculture said on Wednesday: ‘As far as dogs are concerned, along with the progress of human civilisation and the public concern and love for animal protection, dogs have been specialised to become companion animals, and internationally are not considered to be livestock, and they will not be regulated as livestock in China.’
HSI spokeswoman Wendy Higgins claimed the move was a potential ‘game-changer moment’ for animal welfare. She said: ‘That signals a major shift, recognising that most people in China don’t eat dogs and cats and want an end to the theft of their companion animals for a meat trade that only a small percentage of the population indulge in.’
Wildlife such as deer and game birds, along with mink, two kinds of foxes, and other animals were included on the ‘white list’ of animals expected to be approved as farm-raised species once China’s central government lifts a ban on the wildlife trade.
The ban was spurred after the Covid-19 outbreak became widely believed to have started in horseshoe bats before being passed onto humans by intermediary species on sale at a market in Wuhan. China had recorded 81,740 cases and 3,331 deaths, as of 7 April.
Pix: Butchered dogs displayed for sale at a stall inside a meat market during the local dog meat festival, in Yulin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China (Picture: REUTERS)
