Chinese City Bans Dog & Cat Meat After COVID-19 Outbreak

Shenzhen to become the first city in China to ban the sale and consumption of cat and dog meat. The ban will be enforced from May 1st. This measure was carried out after scientists suspect the outbreak of Coronavirus from wildlife meat, prompting the authorities to ban the trade and consumption of wildlife.

People eat dog meat at a restaurant in Yulin, in China's southern Guangxi region (Photo by STR / AFP) / CHINA OUT

New Delhi: Shenzhen will become the first city in China to ban the sale and consumption of cat and dog meat. The ban will be enforced from May 1^st. This measure was carried out after scientists suspect the outbreak of Coronavirus from wildlife meat, prompting the authorities to ban the trade and consumption of wildlife. Shenzhen becomes the first city to extend the ban to cat and dog meat consumption as they are common pet animals. In February, Chinese authorities had enforced a ban in the trade and consumption of wildlife as the outbreak is suspected to have come from the wildlife markets in the city of Wuhan. 81,602 cases have been confirmed for novel Coronavirus & 3,322 deaths have been recorded in China alone. The worldwide toll of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases has reached 1 million. According to reports officials from the Shenzhen Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said that the poultry, livestock, and seafood is sufficient to consume and that there has been no evidence that shows wildlife to be more nutritious than any poultry, livestock, and seafood. The ban has received a great responses from the animal welfare society as it finally controls the brutal exploitation of animals which has been under the spotlight for many years. Taking the lessons learned from the ongoing pandemic, Shenzen’s decision also is step to avoid another such outbreak. Shenzen’s bold step should inspire the world to emulate. The source of how the virus spread from animals to humans is still unknown, with the cases on the rise knowing the source may be able to shed some light on its prevention. Wildlife animals are not just consumed as food but are also used as ingredients for Chinese medicine which is why China hasn’t ruled out the use of Bear Bile which is a key ingredient being used in Coronavirus cure, but there is no evidence that proves its effectiveness. Extracting Bear bile is painful for the animals and causes a lot of discomforts which is unnecessary as the cure hasn’t even proven to be effective