Recent news on animal protection in China:
- On April 11, the Companion Animal Protection Volunteer Project Office was established in Beijing. The organization is affiliated to the Zhihui Village Volunteer Service Center, a national voluntary service organization directly managed by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. It also released the “China Companion Animal Protection and Public Health Safety Social Survey Report” studied for more than 3 years. The survey report put forward countermeasures and suggestions on the protection of companion animals in China, including: actively respond to social concerns and accelerating the promotion of companion animal protection legislation; clarify the responsibilities of the department, especially the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to take the lead in related work, and strengthen supervision together with relevant departments; rely on technological advances to strengthen source management, promote the companion animal electronic label system, and improve the information management of companion animals; build a large database to improve companion animals Protection level; standardize rescue standards, improve rescue procedures; take multiple measures simultaneously to give full play to the role of non-governmental organizations,.
Editor’s note: This is the country’s first quasi-official organization named after the companion animal protection. The investigation report basically represents the official attitude. The report focuses on “accelerating the legislative work on the protection of companion animals”, “clarifying the responsibilities of the department, and taking the lead by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.” This is great news for the protection of companion animals in China.
- On April 10, the official media “Ban Yue Tan（半月談）” published an article to disclose the details of the “first case” of stray animal adoption, and paid attention to the fraudulent adoption, management and abandonment of stray cats and dogs. This is because some irresponsible or ulterior motives adopters who deceive and raise stray animals to commit torture and killing have existed for a long time. Volunteers stated that “through free adoption channels, animal abusers can obtain animals without providing their own background. Some abusive organizations and individuals deliberately approach animal protection organizations to adopt cats and dogs as a provocation.”
Editor’s note: The source of stray animals is the abandonment of pets, disorderly breeding of pets and uncivilized owners. In response to the fraudulent raising of stray animals, many deputies to the National People’s Congress and CPPCC members have spoken out, hoping to formulate special regulations for the protection and management of companion animals at the national level.
WDA Regional Director of Mainland China
Sky Liu
13 April 2021