In April this year, a student at Shandong Polytechnic University used electric shocks, burning and skinning on stray cats. There have been frequent incidents of abuse of dogs by cats, raising calls for animal protection legislation.
On 1 November, the Director of the Centre for Ecological Law Studies of Beijing Forestry University, Yang Tsai-xia, stated in an interview that there was currently no specific animal welfare legislation in China. When the Wildlife Protection Act was amended in 2016, the idea of prohibiting the abuse of wildlife was successfully incorporated into the wildlife protection law, thanks to the efforts of various sectors of society, particularly environmental law scholars. In addition, there are no legal provisions for the protection of animal welfare at the national level, and therefore there appears to be no legal basis for regulating the related abuse of cats and dogs and the corresponding penalties. In the 2002 incident involving the injury of a bear by a student of the University of Qinghua, Liu Sea-Sulphate, since there is no specific crime of animal abuse in our Criminal Code, the public security organs can only apply other related offences, which impose a symbolic punishment on Liu Sea for the deliberate destruction of property.
In response to the current high-profile issue of incorporating the prohibition of animal abuse into legislation, Yang Chao-xia stated that “the realization of animal protection legislation requires further economic development and increased awareness of animal welfare. As long as the civilisation of society as a whole increases, the time for legislation to protect animals will be short.”
The legal protection of cats and dogs can be seen in many ways, from personal property to ethical attributes.
With regard to abuse of cats and dogs, Yang Chongxia stated in an interview that abuse of cats and dogs was part of animal welfare and that there was currently no specific animal welfare legislation in China.
The Yang Chongxia described the current domestic legislation relating to the protection of cats and dogs, mainly the regulations for dog-keeping in some provinces (including local regulations and local government regulations). Typically, the main legislative purpose of these provisions is “to regulate dog-keeping”, “to safeguard the health and safety of citizens and to preserve the environmental and social order of the city”, such as the prevention of bites, lashing, etc., and not to protect the animal welfare of cats and dogs. There are, however, individual pieces of legislation with provisions for animal welfare. For example, the Beijing Regulation on the Management of Dogs provides that a dog should not be abused or abandoned.
“On the whole, however, not only is there a lack of specific legislation for the protection of animal welfare, but most of the legislation governing animal welfare is at a lower level, or even only a policy document.” Yang Chao Ha.
With socio-economic development, cats and dogs have become a common pet or partner animal, with important emotional companionships for special groups such as the Tinks, single children and the elderly. Yang Chongxia stated that, in the absence of legislation, the legal protection of cats and dogs must be seen in terms of personal property, in terms of life attributes, ethical attributes and emotional attributes.
According to Yang Chao Ha, “cats and dogs usually have property value, but this does not mean that they can be disposed of at will. In terms of the attributes of life, human beings have compassion, compassion and common sense. Cats and dogs, as one of the subjects of life, respect life and love for life should be the consensus of humankind. In terms of ethical attributes, cat and dog abuse is now, for many, as a common partner animal, the abuse of a cat and a dog as a `family'. In terms of emotional attributes, cats and dogs are sometimes also emotional attachments and, for many, are important vehicles for emotional communication. Under the Civil Code, victims have the right to claim moral damages for intentional or gross negligence for damage to a particular object of personal significance to a natural person (e.g. for a specific commemorative purpose). This provision is undoubtedly also applicable in the case of injury to another partner's animal.”
Legislation to protect partner animals, anti-abuse cat and dog calls. High
Earlier this year, the abuse of cats by a university student in Shandong was on the Internet. The National People's Congress, the head of Guangdong's law firm, Ju Liangyu, recommended, at the National Two Conferences, the enactment of the Law against Animal Abuse to effectively regulate and guide animal abuse at the legal level. He suggested that penalties for abuse of animals and animals could be included in the scope of application of the Policing Administration Punishment Act before formal legislation was enacted.
A member of the National Council of Political Affairs and Professor O Xiaomei, Faculty of Law, University of Inner Mongolia, recommended that a special Law on Animal Welfare be developed. She proposed that China ' s system of animal welfare be gradually developed in a gradual manner, beginning with high levels of popular support for legislation regulating abuse.
While there are growing calls from society to include the prohibition of animal abuse in legislation, it seems to Yang Chao Ha that a country ' s legislation should be adapted to its stage of economic and social development. The realization of animal protection legislation requires further economic development and increased awareness of animal welfare. As long as society as a whole is more civilized, the time to legislate for animal welfare will be short.
“How animals are treated reflects a country's level of civilization. For humans, animals are the weak, and the overall attitude and behaviour of a State towards the weak represent the level of civilization of that State and its nationals. Since the reform and opening up of the economy, the material and living conditions of the country have improved considerably, and the problem of subsistence has been gradually resolved, resulting in higher demands for spiritual needs, increased attention to animal welfare and increased awareness of animal protection. It is believed that China's animal welfare protection legislation will certainly come, but it may have to wait some time and require a concerted effort on the part of society.” Yang Zhongxia said.