Shenzhen to ban eating of cats, dogs from May 1

The authorities point out that ban on consumption of dogs and cats and other pets is a common practice in developed countries and in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Image: Shutterstock

Shenzhen authorities have banned the eating of dogs and cats as part of a wider clampdown on the wildlife trade since the emergence of the new coronavirus.



The ban on eating dogs and cats would come into force on May 1.



Scientists suspect the coronavirus passed to humans from animals. Some of the earliest infections were found in people who had exposure to a wildlife market in the central city of Wuhan, where bats, snakes, civets and other animals were sold.



Beijing said in late February that it was banning the trade and consumption of wild animals.



"Dogs and cats as pets have established a much closer relationship with humans than all other animals, and banning the consumption of dogs and cats and other pets is a common practice in developed countries and in Hong Kong and Taiwan," the Shenzhen government said in an order posted on Wednesday.



Provincial and city governments across the country have been moving to enforce Beijing's ruling but Shenzhen has been the most explicit about extending that ban to dogs and cats.



Liu Jianping, an official with the Shenzhen Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, said that the poultry, livestock and seafood available to consumers were sufficient.



"There is no evidence showing that wildlife is more nutritious than poultry and livestock," Liu was quoted as saying by the state-owned media Shenzhen Daily.



Shenzhen's initial rules, first proposed in late February, appeared to ban the consumption of turtles and frogs – both common dishes in China's south.



But the city government acknowledged this week that this had been a "a hot point of controversy" and clarified that both could be eaten. (Reuters)