Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture in China announced that dogs will no longer be ‘regulated as livestock’ in China and would, in fact, be treated as pets.
The draft policy released stated that in light of the ‘progress of human civilisation and animal protection’, dog meat will no longer be available for human consumption.
As far as dogs are concerned, along with the progress of human civilisation and the public concern and love for animal protection, dogs have been ‘specialised’ to become companion animals, and internationally are not considered to be livestock, and they will not be regulated as livestock in China.
Additionally, cattle, pigs, poultry, and camels will continue to be accepted as livestock.
In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, China has also introduced a temporary ban on wild animal markets. And it will look into making the ban permanent after the pandemic ends.