China Must Stop Cruelty to Animals, Delegates Say
Date: 08-Mar-06
Country: CHINA
International animal rights groups have criticised China for cruelty to bears kept on farms for their bile. The say millions of animals raised for their pelts are mistreated, including cats and dogs, and inhumanely killed.
"We should impose a law to curb animal abuse and brutal slaughter as soon as possible," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Du Yi, a businesswoman with a Hong-Kong based company and delegate of the advisory body to parliament, as saying.
"Some animal abuse cases have hurt the feelings of animal lovers and tainted China's image of civilisation," she said.
The government should crack down on the theft, butchering and processing of pets for commercial purpose, and reduce the pain of fowl and livestock as they are killed, she added.
Raising dogs was banned under the rule of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong as a bourgeois pastime and was only made legal a few years ago as living standards rose.
While more people have the means to raise pets, many do not have the will to provide long-term care.
Some dogs and cats end up being killed for their fur in barbaric conditions, crammed into cages which are then thrown on to the ground, shattering their bones, according to animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Early this month, a series of pictures of a smiling young woman apparently killing a cat with her high-heeled shoes appeared on some Chinese Internet Web sites, sparking outrage among animal lovers.
No charges can be brought against her, as there are no laws covering cruelty to animals.
