CHINA PLANS FIRST ANIMAL WELFARE LAW

Backlash after thousands of dogs are slaughtered to prevent spread of rabies
Chinese legal experts are drawing up proposals for the country's first animal welfare law, which could criminalise the brutal culling of dogs and other forms of pet maltreatment.

Local governments have organised mass killings, including burying dogs alive and beating them to death, to halt the spread of rabies, which is a major cause of human death in China.

In the past month alone, authorities in Hanzhong, Shaanxi province, rounded up and killed 22,000 dogs after eight people died of rabies.

Under the new proposal, the emphasis would be on owners registering and vaccinating their dogs. Anyone caught severely maltreating pets would be warned, fined, or – in the worst cases – sentenced to prison.

"China has begun to be aware of the importance of animal welfare because it touches on the economy, trade, religion, and ethics,"

"The law ought to cover animal population control and responsible pet ownership, which means people should vaccinate their animals from rabies and other contagious disease."