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Dogs and cats to be taken off menus in China

Pet lovers in China push law that would land people in jail for eating dogs and cats.
By Bryan Nelson
Tue, Jan 26 2010 at 5:57 PM EST
Read more: CHINA, FOOD, PETS & ANIMALS

DOG FOOD: Over 10 million dogs and 4 million cats are murdered every year for their meat or fur. (Photo: ZUMA Press)
The practice of eating dog and cat meat — an age-old delicacy in parts of Asia — could be banned as legal experts consider the first law in China against animal abuse and cruelty, reports The Guardian. If passed, violators could be charged with fines of up to 5,000 yuan ($730 U.S.) and up to 15 days in jail.
 
The culinary tradition dates back thousands of years, but China's growing affluent, pet-loving middle class is increasingly critical of the practice. Online petitions against dog and cat consumption have attracted tens of thousands of signatures, and protests have arisen at markets where the animals are bought and sold.
 
Penalties proposed under the new law are steeper for businesses or organizations that promote the practice of eating man's best friend, with potential fines of up to 500,000 yuan.
 
For many international animal rights groups, the proposed legislation is long overdue. Without stiff enforcement, cruelty to animals and the raising of cat and dog meat for dinner tables is likely to remain widespread in China regardless of the growing consciousness over animal welfare.
 
"We need something more than moral pressure," 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."
 
Dog meat, often euphemized as "fragrant meat" on restaurant menus, can be found throughout China. The label helps ease the minds of those who understand the fondness for dogs as pets coexists with a taste for canine meat, much in the same way that "veal" or "mutton" are used in the United States to mask the reality of consuming calves or baby lambs.
 
Over 10 million dogs and 4 million cats are murdered every year for their meat or fur, according to livestock and poultry slaughtering administration departments in China. Eating both animals has long been viewed as promoting bodily warmth by practitioners of traditional medicine, though today the animals are often simply consumed for sustenance.
 
The report warned that the law is still being fiercely debated, and it could be modified or diluted during the drafting stages. Furthermore, draft legislation can take years to be approved in China.
 
Even so, once passed the proposed law should at least set a new precedent for animal rights in a country where endangered species are frequent menu items and antiquated, unfounded and superstitious medicinal practices are commonplace.


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Comments(9)

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Posted By ashly89 - Wed, Feb 03 2010 at 10:31 PM EST

THANK GOD

There pets not food.... we dont eat our pets dogs and cats are meant to be family animals not something you order off a menu in some little gook hole in the wall

Posted By Gooks east **** - Tue, Feb 02 2010 at 10:22 AM EST

Gooks will eat **** if the sauce matches it right

Gooks are subhuman and all deserve to drop dead for lacking morals and a normal human conscience. Only reason they eat them is because their easy to breed.

Posted By Ben - Sun, Jan 31 2010 at 7:59 PM EST

Kinda dumb

Instead of taking them off the menu, how about just enforcing humane raising practices. Not just with dogs and cats, but all food animals, cows, pigs, chickens, etc. Its something that really needs to be done State-side, too.
I'm a dog person, I have a puppy, and will be getting more, and would never dream of eating one of my dogs. But they are my pets, they are my friends. If an animal is raised for the explicit purpose of food, then it isn't given a name, isn't raised with tender lovin.... More

Posted By zachary - Thu, Jan 28 2010 at 5:28 AM EST

why eat pigs & not dogs?

well, i am a lifelong vegetarian, so right from the start i am not telling you to eat dogs & cats.

the point is, why do we think it's acceptable to eat any animals?

pigs are even considered to be more intelligent than cats and dogs...

most of the animals in the world we would never consider eating, so why do we eat cows, pigs, lamb, etc

i can't go into it here, but this is a great video of a lady who studied this issue for her PhD.

.... More

Posted By Peter Wang - Tue, Jan 26 2010 at 11:10 PM EST

Dog Meat

I've eaten dog meat a few times last year when I was in China. It taste just like any other meat but its just not as gamey. In china unlike the US, there are dogs running around all over the place. I once ate a whole puppy by myself. Yummy!!

Posted By marydee - Wed, Jan 27 2010 at 6:33 AM EST

dog meat

you are gloating that you...eat a whole puppy, you sadistic twisted EVIL son of a *****, there are no words that can describe the hatred that i and thousands of animal lovers around the world feel for disgusting pathetic excuses for human beings like yourself....why dont you do this earth a great favour and go and eat your self, and rid this wonderful earth of another saddist mooron....Peter Wang your a wanker, mooron, and a evil twister *******.....

Posted By Anonymous - Mon, Feb 08 2010 at 12:44 AM EST

So much bigotry

Do you spend every day shouting at people that eat meat? Have you never enjoyed a hamburger or fried chicken? Just because dogs are pets in the US doesn't mean that they aren't animals. Humans eat animals. Since the dawn of time. You don't get the privilege of hypocrisy just because your (our) culture deems certain animals sacred and untouchable. Just because you don't agree with it doesn't mean it's wrong. Now eating people on the other hand... that's something that is definitely unnatural,.... More

Posted By Carol Vella - Tue, Jan 26 2010 at 9:27 PM EST

Dogs and Cats to be taken off the menus in China

OMG Dahh. I can not believe the inhumanity of some. This is just so wrong on so many levels.....STOP THE MADNESS

Posted By john649 - Tue, Jan 26 2010 at 8:59 PM EST

Finally!!

This is a great start but only the beginning. Millions of chinese care about their pets just as americans do. Lets hope they continue to protest until this horrific practice is banned completely.

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