On the afternoon of March 11, 2024, as the Second Session of the 14th National People’s Congress officially concluded in Beijing, this year’s National Two Sessions meetings were held successfully.
Deputies to the National People’s Congress submitted a total of 298 bills and members of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference submitted 5,898 proposals before the prescribed deadline.
Among them, bills, proposals and suggestions related to animal protection and life education are as follows:
I. Zhao Wanping, Deputy to the National People’s Congress and vice president of Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Representative Zhao suggested speeding up anti-animal cruelty legislation. He firmly believed that there is an inextricable connection between animal cruelty and the protection of minors. This kind of behavior is not only the cruelty of animals, but also a hidden abuse of the children who are watching. He called on the speeding up of anti-animal cruelty legislation as soon as possible so that the power of law can protect those innocent lives. At the same time this would create a healthier and safer environment for our children growing up. His suggestions have also been affirmed by many experts and scholars. Many believe that anti-animal cruelty legislation is an inevitable step in line with social development trends.
Representative Zhao also proposed the “Suggestions on Incorporating Life Education into Primary and Secondary School Textbooks.” He believed that in recent years, as adolescent mental health problems become increasingly prevalent, life education needs to assume an indispensable role as a “normal course” and “compulsory course.” He suggested to strengthen young people’s understanding of the origin of life; on how to practice self-protection; how to respect and revere their own and other people’s lives; and implement the education on the theme of “life care” into the development of school-based curriculum as soon as possible. Meanwhile it is recommended that the “life care” education theme is included in the continuing education and training courses for teachers to improve their awareness and teaching ability on life education.
II. Xiong Shuilong, Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, member of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee, and deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee
CPPCC Member Xiong Shuilong submitted a bill proposing legislation to protect companion animals. He suggested establishing a legislative concept that pays equal attention to “management” and “protection” and put forward eight suggestions on the main legislative contents:
Dog and cat owners are required to treat cats and dogs responsibly, and uncivilized dog-raising behavior is severely punished.
2. Replace restrictions on approved dog breeds with a focus on strengthening owner responsibilities.
3. Effectively fulfill epidemic prevention obligations, especially strengthen epidemic prevention for dogs in rural areas.
4. Restrict and regulate the breeding of companion animals to reduce various social problems such as health, public security, and disease prevention and control and the additional management costs caused by the excess number of stray cats and dogs.
5. Standardize the management of government and private stray animal shelters and formulate guiding standards to control the number of shelters, avoid over-housing, and ensure the animal welfare of cats and dogs in shelters;
6. Develop standards and systems for euthanasia of cats and dogs, advocate euthanasia for cats and dogs that are seriously ill and cannot be effectively treated, and ensure animal welfare.
7. Promote the correct attitude towards life and prohibit the abuse and consumption of companion animals.
8. Encourage and support the participation of private and social enterprises, and the government actively cooperates with private organizations in co-governance.
III. Liu Muhua, Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and vice president of Jiangxi Agricultural University
CPPCC Member Liu Muhua submitted a proposal to speed up the formulation of national laws and regulations on pet care and maintenance.
On standardizing the scientific breeding of pets, he recommended that:
1. Pass legislation to clarify the scientific breeding responsibilities of pets throughout their life cycle, and make systematic provisions for the registration, feeding, abandonment, etc. of pets;
2. Establish a pet breeding credit and points system and an electronic file management system;
3. Clarify the authority of functional departments through legislation;
4. Improve pet industry access standards;
On improving pet protection systems, he recommended that:
1. Provide certain policy support to animal rescue institutions to optimize their epidemic prevention and ecological functions;
2. For adopters who have difficulty in continuing to adopt animals, they are allowed to go through the cancellation procedures at the original registration authority, send the pet to a shelter, and find a new owner;
3. Treat animals death with caution and disclose relevant information in a timely manner to facilitate public supervision;
4. Law enforcement and punishment should be strengthened for uncivilized pet keeping and pet abuses
IV. Ma Jun, Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and vice president of Luoyang Institute of Technology
CPPCC Member Ma Jun submitted a proposal on establishing and improving the life education system in universities, middle schools and primary schools.
She suggested that based on the age characteristics of students, life education should be incorporated into the curriculum system of universities, middle schools and primary schools. Its implementation should be established where life education takes a leading role and organically permeates, complements and coincides with the teaching of other courses and various educational activities.
Attention should be paid to the cultivation and training of life education content for teachers in universities, middle schools and primary schools. On the one hand, life education should be listed as a compulsory course for students in teacher education programmes to improve the awareness and ability of teachers in various disciplines to carry out life education; on the other hand, life education should take a heavier proportion in the training of teachers at all levels and types so as to improve teachers’ literacy and ability to implement life education.
She also suggests building a collaborative effort for life education among families, society and schools.