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The Chinese city of Shenzhen has announced draft legislation to ban the consumption of cats and dogs.
This as a total ban on consuming dog and cat meat is being pushed across the country.
Bangkok Post reports that the Shenzhen People’s Congress made the draft law public on Tuesday, and that citizens have until next Thursday to voice their opinions.
The origin of the coronavirus pandemic is believed to be a wet market in Wuhan, where a wide variety of legal and illegal wildlife was being sold for consumption in unhealthy hygiene settings.
After Covid-19 broke out in Wuhan and spread rapidly, China issued a temporary ban on wildlife trade in January, which was escalated to the nation’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, according to Mongabay.
And although the ban was implemented immediately, it has not been made part of the country’s laws on wildlife trade yet, due to the novel coronavirus.
But the ban of dog and cat meat is seen a prominent step in the right direction.
Shenzhen Daily reported that the ban will come into effect on 1 May.
It was also reported that pigs, cattle, goats, sheep, donkeys, rabbits, chickens, ducks and geese, and pigeons and quails are still allowed to be consumed.
However, all terrestrial wild animals are not to be touched.
Snakes, insects, birds and turtles are now on the non-edibles list, along with dogs and cats.
Food Safety and Nutrition Office deputy chief Liu Jianping told Shenzhen Daily that there is no proof that consuming wildlife is “more nutritious than poultry and livestock,” and that this, along with fish, “can satisfy the daily life of people”.
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