Animal Cruelty=Out in China

Find Your Dog Soup Elsewhere (or at least in the next town)

The latest draft of China's first anti-cruelty against animals was made public on Wednesday. It has banned zoos from mistreating animals by not giving them adequate food and water a stipulation added after 13 Siberian tigers died within in a 3 months at a northern Chinese zoo. The draft has also changed a controversial point that banned the consumption of cats and dogs , it now leaves this up to regional authorities. Experts changed the ban on eating dogs and cats because many people do not agree with a complete nationwide ban, and the situation varies by region. The latest draft allows provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions to decide which areas in their jurisdiction can adopt the ban. In areas where the ban is in place offenders can up to 5,000 yuan ($730) and organizations found guilty of selling the meat can be fined between 10,000 and 500,000 yuan. The panel would submit the draft next week to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature. If legislators deem it important, the draft might take two or three years to be adopted as a law, or it might take longer, even 10 years, before it can be really implemented. China currently has the Wildlife Protection Law, the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law, the Livestock Husbandry Law, the Pig Slaughter Regulations, the Laboratory Animal Management Regulations and other specific laws and regulations that address animal protection and management. These laws however do not enable the Chinese people to fully protect the animals.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-03/19/content_9611306.htm