It may be a small step but it is hugely significant given the amount animal cruelty and abuse that has occurred historically in Asian countries.
China has drafted and published online for public comment it’s first Animal Protection Law making animal abuse and cruelty a punishable offence. Changes to criminal law were also included to include animal cruelty and abuse.
It’s about time and way overdue! And it probably doesn’t go far enough to satisfy this animal advocates requirements but we have to take what we can get, don’t we? It’s better then nothing, that’s for sure.
“Millions of animals suffer horribly every year from cruelty in zoos and parks, on farms, markets and the streets, in laboratories and during the process of transport and slaughter. Often ignorant about how animals can feel pain, people treat animals only as a "resource" and do the cruellest things to them. Foxes are skinned alive for their fur. Bears have open wounds in their bodies to extract their bile. Tigers, with their teeth and claws pulled out, are chained to the ground for picture-taking with tourists. Cats are boiled alive before they are eaten. Dogs are clubbed and stoned to death in the name of rabies prevention and population control.“
Imagine the cruel killing of over 40,000 dogs in Hanzhong recently due to a rabies scare. Imagine being a child in China watching these horrible acts committed on innocent animals and growing up thinking this is an acceptable way to treat them.
So kudos to China for being forward thinking enough to realize that they needed to start changing the way the rest of the world sees them and bring legislation to bear on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves.
The Canadian government could take a lesson or two from the Chinese when considering the seal hunt. And that’s something I never thought I would ever say.
For more on this click here: China Drafts Nation’s First Animal Protection Law
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