Chinese State Media Urges Leaders To Pass Animal Protection Law
[/news/china/index.html China]'s state broadcaster has urged the government to pass the country's first animal protection law 'as soon as possible' following the horrific killing of a stray cat.
The official outlet made the call today through an official social media account after a man was caught pouring boiling water over a homeless moggie on the street.
Such a law may also prevent around 10million dogs being killed for their meat every year in the nation.
China's state TV has urged authorities to give small animals legal protection in a commentary on social media.
Pictured, a couple play with stray cats in a park on March 9 in Shanghai
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The culprit scalded the stray as punishment after she had eaten his ham, according to an eyewitness who filmed the incident in a northern Chinese city on Monday.
Footage shows the cat being locked in a cage as the man doused her with liquid.
The stray's four unborn kittens were found dead in her womb after the bystander called the police and rushed the animal to a vet.
The mother feline sustained burns on more than 70 per cent of her body.
She was pronounced dead on Wednesday by medics in Taiyuan city, [ [ ] on Weibo, the state-run station speculated that the culprit would not receive a heavy penalty 'because of a legal gap'.
It added there was little the public could do apart from condemning such actions - due to the lack of legislation against abuse and cruel killings of animals.
The post continued: 'Several representatives suggested the establishment of such a law in this year's Two Sessions (China's annual parliamentary meetings).
'We expect respect for life and a legal bottom line as soon as possible.'
Such a law may also prevent around 10million dogs being killed for their meat every year in the nation. The picture shows dogs locked on a truck on the outskirts of Beijing on April 8, 2006
The perpetrator, said to be a security guard of a power station, was reportedly taken away by police from the scene.
An officer of Taiyuan's Pingyang Police Station told Pear Video that he and his colleagues had educated the man orally.
He claimed that the man could not act 'normally' because he had undergone an open-brain operation.
He was released by police after writing a statement promising to never act like this, the officer added.
Animal welfare remains a sensitive topic in China, tour phượng hoàng cổ trấn partially due to the international uproar over the Yulin Dog Meat Festival.
A woman with her pet dog, both wearing face masks, is pictured walking on the street amid the novel coronavirus pandemic in the northern Chinese city of Shijiazhuang on March 6
The annual activity is one of the most controversial food festivals in the world and sees thousands of dogs cruelly killed, skinned and cooked with blow-torches before being eaten by the locals to celebrate the summer solstice.
It is rare for state media outlets to openly challenge authorities over animal cruelty and pile on pressure for leaders to establish an animal protection law.
However, different levels of the government in China have released relevant regulations since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two Chinese cities, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, have banned the eating of dogs and cats to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
China's central government in May signalled that it could ban canine meat from the dinner table after removing dogs from its official list of livestock.
Yet, it has not issued an order to forbid the eating of dogs in the country.
The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs called for 'some traditional customs about dogs' to change in the country and stressed that dogs were 'companion, rescue and service animals'.
Despite official moves and concerns over the transmission of COVID-19, the Yulin dog meat festival opened 'as usual' this June in the southern province of Guangxi, according to animal lovers.
