China bans wildlife consumption, including dogs and cats

Animal rights groups have received news of a victory after China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs revised the list of what animals are allowable to be sold for meat. Published Thursday, this list is of their latest rules and guidelines as to what animals may be traded for food. Authorities in China have ruled dogs to be "companion animals" and thus no longer viable for consumption, according to CTV News.

The Humane Society International estimates that around 10 million dogs are killed annually in China's dog meat trade. Activists claim that thousands are slaughtered during a Yulin festival in southern Guangxi province each year, they are then eaten to mark the summer solstice in late June.

Animal activists are calling the change an "encouraging" move towards outlawing China's dog meat trade. Cats have also made the revised list of excluded animals. Cows, pigs, sheep and chickens will still be available for sale as livestock. Livestock is specified to include animals that have been bred and domesticated for the purpose of providing meat, eggs and fur.

Recently the authorities also made the decision of banning the sale of wild animals for food, as the risk of diseases being spread from animals to humans is now impossible to ignore. Measures such as these were initially enacted after the SARS outbreak back in 2003. However the trade and consumption of wild animals slowly made a comeback in popularity during the intervening years.

With the over 87,000 coronavirus related deaths over the past couple of months, China has no choice but to take the threat of wet markets and wild animal consumption seriously.

Wild animal consumption has been banned in Shenzhen, a southern Chinese city, including dogs and cats as well.

The new laws mark a turning point for China's approach to wildlife, and one that has been commended by the Humane Society International. The latest draft alterations, "could signal a critically important shift in China's desire to see an end to the dog and cat meat trade," they said in a statement to the press.

"Coming so soon after Shenzhen's dog and cat meat ban, it is incredibly encouraging," wrote Wendy Higgins, international media director for the Humane Society.

"This is the first time the national government in China has explicitly explained why dogs... are excluded from the official livestock list, stating that these are companion animals and not for eating," added Higgins.