China: Cultivating Compassion and Teaching Responsible Pet Care

In China, there is no national animal welfare legislation and no laws to protect companion animals from maltreatment, abandonment or outright cruelty.  With the number of dog owners on the rise, the need to cultivate responsible pet ownership is more important than ever. 

A growing problem

Companion animal welfare is an enormous issue worldwide, but the condition of companion animals in China is particularly problematic.

Pet ownership has only become popular this past decade, rapidly increasing the number of companion animals despite the fact that owners lack the knowledge and skills necessary to care for them. Good and accessible information on responsible pet ownership and behavior isn't readily available, and there simply aren't enough quality veterinary services.

Owners are resistant to spaying and neutering, vaccinating and leashing or cleaning-up after their pets. This exacerbates the conflict between pet owners and non-pet owners, a societal problem often exploited by enforcement agencies and used as an excuse for the restrictions on dog ownership. As a result, discrimination against dog owners and intolerance towards pets is on the rise.

These social prejudices, in conjunction with a lack of effective rabies prevention programs and education initiatives, spur local municipalities to frequently resort to the mass killing of dogs. Dog beating squads will roam the streets and bludgeon dogs to death with clubs, sometimes right in front of their owners' eyes.

How IFAW is helping

IFAW is a leading organization in companion animal rescue and public education in China, supporting local rescue efforts and lobbying the government to implement humane legislation and promote the general concept of animal welfare.

Through our efforts to prevent dog culls, IFAW has been able to stop approximately three to four dog culls each year since 1998. Campaigning to change China's laws at two critical levels, IFAW urges cities and towns to adopt regulations that take rabies prevention and dog population control into consideration, and pushing animal welfare legislation that prohibits animal cruelty including brutal dog culls.

In 2004, the Beijing government changed its dog regulations and included some of IFAW's key recommendations such as reducing registration fees, mandating rabies vaccinations, providing incentives for spay/neuter and allowing dogs to be walked on the street during the day.

In the suburbs of Beijing, IFAW is working with local veterinarians and municipal authorities to develop a spay/neuter project to promote humane dog population control through regulations, enhanced veterinary standards and increased public awareness about the importance of responsible pet ownership.

Through this model project, IFAW is working to set a positive precedent, leading the way to humane animal control and responsible pet ownership in China.