A city in southeastern China, Shenzen has become the first city in the country to ban the consumption of cats and dogs, announced by the government on Thursday.
The government’s new rules which will be put into effect from May 1, state that it will be illegal to eat animals raised as pets. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, China passed a law to banning the consumption of wild animals in February.
The consumption of state-protected wild animals, other terrestrial wild animals taken from the wild, as well as captive-bred and farmed terrestrial wild species is now prohibited in Shenzen. Animals raised as pets, such as cats and dogs will also be banned.
Consumable animals include pig, cattle, sheep, donkey, rabbit, chicken, duck, goose, pigeon, quail, as well as aquatic animals who are not banned by other laws or regulations.
The authorities announced, “If convicted, they will be subjected to a fine of 30 times of the wild animal’s value, if the animal is above the value of 10,000CNY [$1400 USD].” The authorities have acknowledged the fact that the lucrative wildlife industry needs to be brought under control if it is to prevent another outbreak, because the coronavirus outbreak is thought to have started at a wildlife market in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Source:https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/02/asia/shenzhen-cats-dogs-ban-scli-intl/index.html