China bans the sale of dog and cat meat

A historic moment for animal welfare: on May 29, China published a new national livestock catalogue that explicitly excludes dogs.

This means the sale of live dogs and dog meat for consumption is now banned in China.

Cats were never part of the livestock catalogue. The global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS welcomes China's move and at the same time calls on the governments of Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia to follow China's lead.

The dog and cat meat trade is not only an enormous animal welfare problem in Southeast Asia, but also poses a major risk to public health. The unhygienic conditions under which the animals are caught, kept, slaughtered and sold — mostly at live animal markets — are the perfect breeding ground for new zoonotic viruses.

In Vietnam, China's neighbor, approximately five million dogs and one million cats are still captured and brutally slaughtered each year for their meat. Animals are also frequently transported across borders into China. With an estimated four million domestic and stray animals killed per year, the situation in Cambodia and Indonesia is similarly devastating. “Of course it is a positive signal that China is banning the sale of dog and cat meat — even if this decision is probably less about animal welfare and more about food safety. But now Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia must finally take action too. In addition to causing unimaginable animal suffering, the dog and cat meat trade is also responsible for disease outbreaks such as rabies and cholera. And as we now know, the entire world can suffer from deadly zoonotic viruses that emerge at the unsanitary live animal markets where dog and cat meat is sometimes sold,” says Dr. Katherine Polak, veterinarian and head of FOUR PAWS stray animal care in Southeast Asia.

Slaughterhouses and Live Animal Markets: Ticking Time Bombs

Crammed into small cages, injured and traumatized dogs and cats — including stolen pets — are transported for hours in extreme heat and without water to slaughterhouses and markets across Southeast Asia. The stacked cages, the weakened immune systems of the dogs and cats, and the unnatural contact with wild animals that are also slaughtered there create the perfect breeding ground for deadly zoonotic viruses, such as the novel coronavirus. “The rampant dog and cat meat trade and the live animal markets throughout Southeast Asia are ticking time bombs. If governments do not stop this brutal trade and close these cruel markets and slaughterhouses now, the next global pandemic could originate in Vietnam, Cambodia, or Indonesia,” says Dr. Polak.

FOUR PAWS’s Fight Against the Dog and Cat Meat Trade

To permanently end the brutal trade in dog and cat meat in Southeast Asia, FOUR PAWS has launched a campaign at both international and national levels. «Through awareness work and cooperation with the responsible authorities and tourism associations, governments are to be encouraged to introduce strict animal welfare laws that prohibit the catching, slaughtering, and eating of dogs and cats,» explains Dr. Karanvir Kukreja, project manager of the FOUR PAWS campaign. In addition, FOUR PAWS supports local animal welfare organizations and communities with humane and sustainable programs for managing dog and cat populations. FOUR PAWS is also part of the animal welfare coalitions DMFI (Dog Meat Free Indonesia) and ACPA (Asia Canine Protection Alliance), which lobby against the trade in Southeast Asia.