Photo from Toji and Chihiro on Flickr
China’s attitude to animals is ambiguous to say the least. While there is a growing middle class that likes to own cats and dogs as pets, there are still tens of millions who regard them as only of value for food or fur. Dogs and cats are on sale daily in meat markets across China. They are beaten to death, boiled alive, stabbed and strangled on the spot, or cruelly bound with wire and stuffed into sacks to be slaughtered at restaurants.
But all of that is going to be finished soon. In what would be China’s first law against animal abuse, anyone caught eating cat or dog meat would face a fine of as much as 5,000 yuan (£450) and up to 15 days in jail. Organisations involved in the sale of either meat could be fined between 10,000 and 500,000 yuan. A draft law is expected to be sent to parliament, the National People’s Congress, in April, according to state media.
