Selling dog meat does not comply with current health and epidemic prevention requirements
The dog's plan not to be included in the list of livestock and poultry genetic resources has caused heated discussions among experts
□ Reporter Wang Yang
□ Zhang Shoukun, our trainee reporter
Since the outbreak of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, the community has paid close attention to the outstanding problems of wild animal eating and the huge hidden dangers to public health security. Discussions about prohibiting the consumption of wild animals have also become a social hot spot.
On February 24, the 16th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress voted to pass the "Decision on the Comprehensive Prohibition of Illegal Wildlife Trade, the Elimination of the Abuse of Wild Animals, and the Effective Protection of People's Health and Safety", and authorized the State Council The relevant administrative departments shall formulate a catalog of genetic resources for livestock and poultry.
On April 8, the National Catalog of Animal Genetic Resources for Animals (Draft for Comment) drafted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (hereinafter referred to as the "Draft for Comment") began to solicit public comments. The draft for solicitation covers 18 species of traditional livestock and 13 species of special livestock. It is worth noting that dogs are not in scope.
"With the advancement of human civilization and the public's concern and preference for animal protection, dogs have been 'specialized' from traditional domestic animals to companion animals." The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in the note.
An expert told the "Legal Daily" reporter that for dogs, the country currently has no officially approved breeding technology and quality control links. Up to now, the former Ministry of Agriculture has only issued slaughter and quarantine regulations for pigs, cattle, sheep and poultry, and no dog slaughter and quarantine regulations. Although the former Ministry of Agriculture issued the quarantine rules for the origin of cats and dogs, this is only a standardized feeding link. Since China has not issued quarantine standards for edible dogs and has not implemented strict quarantine measures, this has laid a considerable food safety hazard for edible dog meat. Strictly speaking, the dog meat sold now does not meet the current health and epidemic prevention requirements.
Discussion on whether to fast dog meat
The proportion of support and opposition is equal
The news that the dog is not in the scope of the consultation draft has aroused public debate, and the topic of whether dog meat should be fast has set off a large-scale discussion on the Internet.
The Nandu polling center launched an online survey on this, and the results show that the proportion of netizens who support and oppose fasting dog meat is almost the same. Supporters believe that dogs are the most loyal companions of human beings, and they should not be treated as domestic animals; opponents believe that eating dog meat does not mean that they do not love dogs, and must respect the customs and traditions of certain places and eat them in some areas Dog meat has a long tradition and should not be prohibited.
Hu Gongqun, an expert in legislative consultation of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, told the Legal Daily that China has no legal regulations for companion animals, and there is no legal basis for this name. As far as intimacy is concerned, cattle and horses have played an important role in agriculture and ancient transportation for a long time, and they are also human friends. Even from the point of view of pets, the number of pet pigs, pet ducks, etc. is also increasing, and this intimacy cannot be quantified. Only a few countries and regions have truly banned the consumption of dog meat from the legislative level. The ban on the consumption of pets such as cats and dogs does not reflect the requirements of modern human civilization.
Beijing lawyer Wang Congwei believes that the dog is defined as a companion animal, and the dog is not included in the draft for comment. It allows people to stand higher and think about the relationship between animals and humans. This not only shows the attitude held by the country, but also has a guiding significance. , Is undoubtedly the progress of civilization.
"Legal Daily" reporter combed relevant information and learned that in our country, many places still have the habit of eating dog meat. The Litchi Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, Guangxi, has attracted much attention every year; Yangjiang, Kaiping and Guangdong all have the saying "Eating dog meat on the summer solstice can remove evil spirits and make up the body"; in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Jilin Province, dog meat is also very popular among ethnic Korean One of the cuisines. In many other countries, the tradition and behavior of eating dog meat also exist. For example, Switzerland still allows sales of food, and most states in the United States have also allowed food.
According to the data from Tianyan, there are currently 4,861 enterprises in China that include "dog meat" or "meat dogs" in their business scope, and the proportion of individual industrial and commercial households exceeds 94%. The three provinces with the largest number of dog meat enterprises are Guangdong, Guangxi, and Shandong, accounting for 48.68% of the national total.
According to Zhang Yunshu, a professor at Anhui University of Finance and Economics, the role of the National Animal Genetic Resources Catalogue is to facilitate the protection of the diversity of livestock and poultry species, not to say which animals can and cannot be eaten. The public should not over-interpret.
Dogs lack food quarantine standards
There is a risk of "sickness"
In 2011, the former Ministry of Agriculture issued a notice on the quarantine regulations for three animal origins, including the "Guidelines for Quarantine Origin". Industry insiders believe that at that time, China recognized meat dog breeding and prepared to introduce relevant standards.
In July 2015, Guangdong citizen Chen reported to the regulatory authorities that 69 restaurants in Meizhou were involved in cat and dog meat operations.
The Meizhou Food and Drug Administration and the Guangdong Food and Drug Administration responded to the report one after another: The current laws and regulations do not stipulate that dog meat is prohibited from being used for food, and the country has not yet formulated fixed slaughtering procedures and related standards for inspection and quarantine.
Guo Zeqiang, a professor at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, said that all animals must be bound by the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law and its supporting laws and regulations before entering the market to prevent the occurrence of animal diseases including zoonotic diseases. The basic guarantee for pigs, cattle, poultry and other animals to be edible is that the state formulates slaughter and quarantine regulations, conducts quarantine inspections, guarantees food safety, and avoids zoonotic diseases. Since the regulatory authorities did not formulate dog slaughter and quarantine regulations, according to the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law, dogs cannot be slaughtered and sold. The legislation at the national level does not clearly stipulate whether dog meat can be eaten, but the slaughter and sale of dogs are explicitly prohibited.
Guo Zeqiang therefore believes that the existing law is indirect fasting for dog meat, that is, consumers are not directly prohibited from eating dog meat, but by cutting off the source.
An expert from the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center also said that dog meat is a niche food and there are currently no relevant inspection and quarantine regulations. From the perspective of food safety, if dog meat of normal origin is fine, dog meat of illegal origin has food safety problems.
In June 2015, the former State Food and Drug Administration issued the “Reply Letter on Issues of Dog Slaughter Permit and Supervision” (Food Safety Office Letter [2015] No. 25) in the name of the Food Safety Office of the State Council, which mentioned that the current world Animal health organizations and most countries do not have relevant regulations or requirements for canine slaughter, inspection and quarantine; China does not yet have a clear breed of meat dogs. The dogs on the market are mainly individual free-range breeds, with complex sources and criminals. The phenomenon of drug theft dogs, there is a greater potential risk of eating dog meat; dog slaughtering and consumption of dog meat involve animal welfare and other issues, which are widely concerned at home and abroad. Once handled improperly, it will have negative effects, so it is not appropriate to introduce a unified law at the national level. Regulations. All localities are required to clarify the relevant issues and regulatory requirements of dog meat consumption in the form of local regulations or rules according to actual needs.
Shenzhen legislation bans dog meat
Food category is vague and difficult to enforce
If dogs are not managed according to livestock, does it mean that they cannot eat dog meat in the future?
The staff of the Livestock and Poultry Industry Division of the Seed Industry Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs told the "Legal Daily" reporter that the "National Animal and Poultry Genetic Resources Directory" is aimed at the management of agricultural livestock and poultry, and dogs are not to be included in the livestock and poultry genetic resources directory. It is not used as an agricultural animal husbandry management, and is not related to whether it can be eaten or cultivated.
On March 31, the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress passed the "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Comprehensive Prohibition of Wild Animals Regulations" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"), which will take effect on May 1, 2020.
When the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress solicited opinions on the "Regulations," the regulation that turtles, cats, and dogs are not allowed to eat has attracted heated discussion. With the official announcement of the "Regulations", the dust settled: turtles can eat, pets such as cats and dogs cannot.
Regarding the reasons for fasting cats and dogs, the Legal Work Committee of the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress explained in the description that pets have their special feeding purposes and feeding methods, which are different from the animals for food in inspection and quarantine standards; at the same time, cats and dogs are pets To establish a closer relationship with humans than other animals, and prohibiting the consumption of pets such as cats and dogs is a common practice in many developed countries and Hong Kong, Taiwan and other regions. It is also the requirement and embodiment of modern human civilization.
In short, one is the lack of food quarantine standards; the other is that it does not meet the dietary ethics that people are used to.
Shenzhen lawyer Liu Xuefeng believes that Shenzhen ’s legislation adopts a direct fasting method, but it is not a legislative innovation, but only abides by the animal epidemic prevention law. After the transition from indirect fasting to direct fasting, consumers must also bear legal responsibility for eating dog meat.
However, some legal sources said that there are still ambiguities in the regulations on fasting. For example, the "Regulations" stipulates that if you know that it is a cat or dog for pet breeding, you will be fined two times or more than ten times the value of the value of each person or the value of the goods. The implication is that cats and dogs for non-pet feeding purposes can still be included in the food category. This will become a problem in law enforcement. It is difficult to identify whether a plate of cat meat or dog meat was brought from a stolen pet or from a farm.
The person in charge of the Legal Work Committee of the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress also stated that the "Regulations" stipulates that the scope of edible terrestrial animals also includes "other poultry and livestock listed in the catalog for the purpose of providing food". The relevant catalogue has been revised, and the range of edible animals in Shenzhen will be adjusted accordingly.