Eating dogs and cats banned in second Chinese city, 'They are pets and not livestock'

After Shenzhen city, Zhuhai is now the second Chinese city to impose a ban on the consumption of dog and cat meat amid coronavirus pandemic. The city, which houses around 1.7 million people, has announced the new rules in accordance with a government proposal that says dogs should be viewed as 'companion animals' and not as livestock. 

The Ministry of Agriculture shared in a statement, "As far as dogs are concerned, along with the progress of human civilization and the public concern and love for animal protection, dogs have been 'specialized' to become companion animals, and internationally are not considered to be livestock, and they will not be regulated as livestock in China."

Earlier this month, another Chinese city Shenzhen became the first to ban the human consumption of dog and cat meat. Both the cities are planning on bringing the new laws from May 1. A spokesperson for the Shenzhen government said, "Dogs and cats as pets have established a much closer relationship with humans than all other animals, and banning the consumption of dogs and cats and other pets is a common practice in developed countries and in Hong Kong and Taiwan."

"This ban also responds to the demand and spirit of human civilization," he continued. The Humane Society International's director of international media, Wendy Higgins, said the announcement from the Chinese city was 'thrilling'. 

Higgins spoke to the Independent and said, "Zhuhai's ban on dog and cat meat eating is thrilling news for all those in China and around the world who have campaigned for so long to end this brutal trade. Coming so soon after Shenzhen's ban and the government's historic statement classifying dogs as pets, we hope this is the start of a domino effect of progressive legislation across China with other cities following suit."

"This isn't just good news for animal protection, it's also very good news for public health," she continued. As per a report from Xinhua, anyone who is found breaking the law will be facing a fine which costs up to 20 times the value of the meat. 

The new of the bans followed reports that the deadly coronavirus pandemic could have possibly originated from the wet markets in China where these animals are sold. On January 1, the Chinese government had temporarily closed the Hunan market after it was identified as the source of many early cases of COVID-19. 

 We had previously reported that the first known case of the coronavirus could be traced back to December 1, 2019, in Wuhan, China. Within the span of a month, the number of cases in Wuhan rapidly increased with links to wet markets.

One theory suggests that the virus originated from animals in these markets. City officials announced that Wuhan will be spending up to 200 million yuan ($28 million) to upgrade the markets. They will also be focusing on improving hygiene and cleanliness in such places. However, the World Health Organization is urging countries to close all such 'dangerous' markets and has issued warnings about the high risk that such environments contain. 

As per data from John Hopkins, globally there have been 2,063,161 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 137,020 deaths.