Eating dogs and cats–which is an age-old delicacy in China–could soon be against the law.
It’s the nation’s first law against such animal abuse. Currently, dog and cat meat is viewed as promoting bodily warmth. But if the law passes, people who eat either animal could face fines of up to $730 or 15 days in jail. Organizations involved the practice would face fines up to 100-times as much.
“I support this proposal. Whether you judge this as a question of food security or emotions, there is absolutely no necessity in China for people to eat dogs and cats,” said Zeng Li, the founder of the Lucky Cats shelter in Beijing. “Beijing’s dog restaurants get their meat mainly from vagrant and stolen dogs. In the suburbs, dogs are hung and slaughtered in front of buyers.”
The law has been in the draft stage for over a year and will be submitted to higher authorities come April. But draft legislation can take years to approve. Drafters at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences have been consulting for more than a year with Britain’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the US-based International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Raising cats and dogs for meat remains widespread in China. You’ll often see it advertised as “fragrant meat,” a euphemism for dog. Cat meat is more popular in southern China where activists block trucks carrying thousands of cats to meat markets.
Ending the culinary tradition is going to be difficult even it is passed in to law, as it dates back thousands of years. Dog meat was once considered a medicinal tonic.
“We are proposing that all dog and cat eating should be banned because it is causing many social problems,” said Chang Jiwen, a law professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who heads the drafting team.
The economic impact of this law would be small as China’s affluent don’t partake in the delicacy. In fact, such traditions have received much scrutiny from affluent, pet-loving, urban middle class. And online petitions against dog and cat consumption have attracted tens of thousands of signatures.
As a vegetarian, this begs the question of why stop at just cats and dogs? What’s the real difference between eating a cow or eating your dog? I’m just saying.
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Source: Physorg
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Jerry James Stone
Jerry is a web developer, part-time blogger and a full-time environmentalist. His crusade for all things eco started twenty years ago when he ditched his meat-and-potatoes upbringing for something more vegetarian-shaped. He currently works at Care2 and also blogs over at Treehugger. His passions include green tech, eco politics and smart green design. And while he doesn't own a car anymore, he loves to write about those too. Jerry studied at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA. During his time there he was a DJ at the campus station KCPR and he also wrote for the campus paper. Jerry currently resides in San Francisco, CA with his cat Lola. You can stalk him on Twitter @jerryjamesstone.
79 Responses to China to Ban Eating Cats and Dogs
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I’m Australian and we eat our nation emblems the kangaroo and the emu and think nothing of it. Our native aboriginals eat anything meat and see it as what it is, food a source of protein. This is my stance everyone seems to against eating dog or cat because there pets, loved animals of the family right. What about the poor old pig most people don’t give it a second thought to eating there bacon or ham, but pigs are just as intelligent as dogs and make fabulous pets and can be trained to do exactly what a dog can do. To add they can be just as loving and comforting as ether a dog or cat. All I can say is don’t be so bi est in your thinking even God doesn’t care and he’s the only one that has the right to judge. Get real people!
I could only accept eating dogs and cats when people are cannibalizing people too. These animals are to me more important than most people so if you say that there is no shortage of dogs and cats, well, there is no shortage of people either–why not eat them too you hungry meat eating monsters! Eat the murderers and prison inmates that are a socail waste. I am not being facetious. I would rather see you meat eaters eating people than eating my animal friends.
I love my dogs! I would never eat them! However I cannot be disgusted by those who do eat them. Dogs are not endangered by any means, they will be euthanized and go to waste by the thousands, and if someone vows to try and house all of them, the person becomes a dog hoarder and forces the dogs to live in unhealthy environments. If we can hang heads of buffalo and other game on our walls, then other countries can eat what they have available. At least the meat is not going to waste.
Its there culture! In India, a cow is sacride, yet we kill and eat them every day. Ive traveled pretty extensively and tried on my own free will dog in vietnam. Which is a social norm over there. they dont kill fido there pets, but breed a certain breed especially for consumtion. And it was pretty good, like a turkey-duck-dark pork meat. So let it be, they dont come over here and tell us to stop killing cows.
i agree i think there are people who dont care like its nt human to trow a cat into hot water its crule and not called for and china are known to be soo routhless to animals there wild people and need to be controled cause to hang a dog its mean to boil a cat its wow and they also stab dolphins crule contry
the sad thing is that we do similar things to animals in the US, but since they are not cats and dogs (pets), people don’t care
whoever has went this far to read this, my gratitude is sent with many thanks. i think this is complete animal cruelty, and people who do this to cats and dogs are sick. i know its part of their culture, but it shouldnt be allowed and i think someone who fully agrees with me should create a group against such behaviour. And maybe we could create a group with a certain amount of people, to show them how man people dissagree with their culture and make an agreement with one of the companys. for them not to kill innocent cats and dogs, with us helping you on the other side. So whoevers reading this hopefully you agree too and make this dream company
Cats and dogs were domesticated to be companions. Cats and dogs were once wild, until humans started delving into selective breeding- the process that gave us both cats and dogs as "pets."
For a human to breed an animal for companionship, then turn around and eat him.. Aye. There's the rub.
A quick response to NOWAY: China receives most of it's wealth (currency) from other countries, through exporting. Because China does not export cat and/or dog meat, it shouldnt be much of a loss to their economy Ever seen one of those "Made in China" tags? Now you're getting it.
Lots of animals have been domesticated through selective breeding. YOU bred dogs for companions, Chinese breed them for food. Just because you like dogs and don't like cows or pigs apparently doesn't make them different. A pig can be a GREAT companion and is a very loving animal if you give it the same attention we give our dogs.
seriously??? BAN DOGS and CATS??? The economy is suffering as it is and now you people want to ban people from eating their own preferences. People keeps on banning eating that and those, seriously! I don’t give a fly about cats and dogs heck why give special treatment to abundant animals such as horses, cats, chickens, dogs, etc… These animals aren’t scarce, heck I think taking them off the street and cooking them is better than let them go loose bitin people, taking a dump wherever they want, and tearing garbage bags. I’ve got mouths to feed not dogs so unless you guys have a gazillion dollars to finance animal shelters and their food then go ahead BAN all you want but that isn’t the case now is it? For every animal you don’t eat I EAT THREE
well we all stick together and think its cruel because we all know what its like to be loved and brought up properly. of course everyone has their own opinion, bcause were all diffrent but weve all probably got either a cat or a dog as a pet or we work with animals. one way or another we all love animals and as everyones saying, their our companion and our friends we built up their courage, love and live with them,we feed them. But then theres people who dont care about these things and, like you, they dont care. were all on here too agree with eachothers comments about animal cruelty.And your NOT. So why are you on here if you dont agree witha word we all say?
These people are sick! These dogs show to be loyal to the end. After being hung, beaten, they still beg for mercy. They have a will to live and not fight back. They are not wild. It takes a sick chinaman to kill a sweet furry guy with sweet eyes and skin him alive. If it makes you feel tough to say its ok, you are just as sick. There are so many better foods out there. These guys are dumpster divers, get their veggies from other peoples garbage and are true scum of the earth. Bottom feeders. These poor helpless animals should not die torturous deaths. The cats are boiled alive by the way. Very humane. Wow. I wonder how they treat their wives.
Raise some other animals and slaughter them. I've lived on a farm and slaughtered cows, pigs and sheep, they do the same thing. When you start to mercilessly slaughter any animal it begs for it's life.
I would actually be ok with dog and cat eating… I could never do it, I am a vet tech with 3 dogs and 1 cat and love my pets… but I do eat cow and chicken and pig… I have seen how these animals are killed in Canada and feel comfortable with my meat eating. In certain countries, such as China and Korea, the belief is that the animal must suffer as he is being killed in order to have certain benefits from the meat… making men more virile and others. I have seen videos of how these dogs and cats are killed and it is horrible, they suffer cruelly, it is unnecessary!!!
Killing the animal quickly and humanely is possible then why not do it!?!
if you idiots havent realized cats and dogs are the most domesticated and certainly most human-interactive animals on the planet. They dont share the same cognitive capabilities that cows and pigs have, they are eons beyond that… cats and dogs alike can feel emotional turmoil inside humans, sadness and even physical ailments. They comfort us in time of need, cuddle with us, and even offer compatibility when no other human feels obligated to. People are seen running with dogs, playing with them as if they were they’re children and not to mention make it a daily habit to sleep with them.
The fact that people eat these majestic creatures is… im at a loss for words, so for lack of a better word, fucking disgusting…
Raise a pig, pigs are smarter than dogs and are actually cleaner naturally than dogs. they comfort people, follow you, learn their name and commands. Just because you've never bothered to get to know a pig doens't mean they are stupid.
The more I get to know and understand my dogs, the more I dislike humans. Dogs and cats dont do the bad things that we are capable of. So why be cruel to them. We are cruel enough to each other…leave the innocient creatures alone!
@ Dy Phan. Maybe you could elaborate on that statement. Whilst we also eat meat too, we generally do not blow torch the animal whilst it is alive (or at all) and have enforceable animal crueltly laws. The theft of people’s private pets for resale as food is not common.
Since you would no no doubt resort that not all Asian are into animal cruelty why suggest that any respect for animals is stupid? Or are you just voicing regret that your affairs are coming under scrutiny and the affairs do not look so good?
Mr Dy. Why is it ridiculous to oppose ripping the skin off a live animal and sticking a stake through a cats face whilst you blow torch its fur off. Why Mr Dy is it ridiculous to not want to listen to the scraping of claws on the side of a cauldron whilst the cat inside slowly loses its skin…
Er no Mr Dy It is not ridiculous, it is sanity – and I am quite relieved we do not have such practices in our western nations. I am just sorry this notion of sanity might not yet apply to people in China or Vietnam (in whatever way you wish to interpret this), but I think an example has to start from somewhere and this is a good place to start.
Perhaps you imagine us folks in the west are belittling your country or sticking our noses in where we are not wanted, but I’d also point out here that there are many opposers to such ‘atrocities’ who are your own nationals.
Would you be happy to oversee the butchering of these animals using these methods? I wonder…
Thank god it will be illegal… most people don’t know about this but… for some animals its easier to remove the skin while the animal is still alive. Dogs are unfortunately one of those animals. It really is horrible to do such a thing.
i agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HELP THE ANIMALS(:
good news. eating cows and pigs i can live with as they can be bought up fairly well but you hear loads of horror stories about how cats and dogs are stolen off the street and killed for food. i wonder how well the new law will be upheld
I live in China and have been to restaurants that serve dog on several occasions. While these kinds of places do exist in the major cities, it seems like they’re most popular in rural areas or smaller cities. The real challenge facing animal rights (more specifically, canine rights) here is the poor treatment they receive in general, not just that they often end up as dinner. Most people that eat dog (in China and elsewhere) don’t view dogs in the same way the vast majority of people do in the west. They don’t hold a special place for them in their hearts as pets and they don’t really see any difference between a chicken or a dog on an emotional level. To them, animals exist to be used for any purpose they could conceivably serve, plain and simple. To be fair, the reason for this is probably that most people who still consider dog a delicacy are not as ‘economically evolved’ as 99% of the people who’ve ever logged onto this website. It follows that, living on that little money, these people haven’t even begun to ponder their morality in terms of food choices. Dog meat restaurants in China are not expensive places to eat. It also should be noted that eating dog isn’t the norm in China perse. It’s just a widely accepted practice that a small percentage of the population seems to take part in.
It seems like the root of the issue is being missed by Chinese lawmakers here. First, they should make it a law to think dogs are our friends, then after that sticks, proceed to make it illegal to eat them. It sounds funny, I know, but I assure you, the Chinese government has the influence to make it happen! But you never know, doing things the other way around may just work too…
[...] News, factory farming. Leave a Comment A law may be passed in China in the future which would make the consumption of cats and dogs illegal. Both animals have been eaten in China for centuries, and are seen by some as a [...]