BEIJING, October 23, 2012 (City Weekend) — On August 7 a male bichon frise plummeted 18 floors down onto the windshield of a car parked below. It was a miracle he survived, but even more of a miracle that Chinese pop star Huang Yong came to his rescue after seeing a video posted on Weibo. He whisked the injured pup off to Doctors Beck & Stone, where the dog, now aptly named Lucky, got his broken front leg treated free of charge after he stabilized.
In early September, Lucky was still recovering at Doctors Beck & Stone’s CBD South hospital. He’ll join Huang Yong’s family as soon as he makes a full recovery.
Aside from publicly naming and shaming Beijing’s worst pet owner, the incident raised important questions: Do pets have any kind of legal rights protecting them against abuse or neglect? What should someone do with a pet they don’t want anymore? Is it better to adopt a rescued animal or to buy from a pet shop?
While Lucky’s situation is uniquely tragic, it’s not uncommon for people to decide they no longer want their pet, simply open up the door and let it out, says Dr. Tony Beck of Doctors Beck & Stone. While people in China are becoming increasingly aware of, and sympathetic to, animal rights and welfare, as well as more vocal about protecting animals against acts of cruelty or neglect, China does not yet have any of the kinds of comprehensive animal protection laws that have been adopted in over 100 other countries to date.
Proposed regulations
In 2010, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development addressed the “mismanagement” of animals in Chinese zoos by banning animal performances— such as bears riding bicycles or lions jumping through rings of fire—that violate the nature of zoos as non-profit institutions to serve public interests. But there is nothing to protect other animals, especially pets, from abuse or neglect.
The China Animal Protection Law appeared in China’s national legislature as a draft law in September 2009. It has since been renamed the Anti-Animal Cruelty Law draft, but has ostensibly been placed on the legislature’s backburner.
The draft’s main goal is to prohibit animal cruelty, including physically abusing or starving animals, and to require people to “respect the feelings of animals.” It would also ban media from displaying acts of animal cruelty.
The draft does not list penalties or punishments for violating its terms. Observers agree that it’s a major step in protecting animals’ rights, but they also believe it will take years to be enacted.
Scarlet Zhang, founder of Beijing Cat, a cat fostering and adopting agency based in Beijing, just hopes it has been drafted by animal lovers.
“If enacted, our actions will have legal grounds and support,” Zhang said. “Those who torture animals will have to worry about whether they will be apprehended before committing such atrocities.”
Buy or adopt?
Both Dr. Beck and Mary Peng of the of International Center for Veterinary Services strongly urge against buying pets, especially in China where there is no regulated breeding industry. The lack of oversight means that basically anybody can be a “breeder,” and this has led to many of these animals being born with physical problems, genetic issues and other illnesses as a result of poor husbandry or inbreeding.
“Many of these animals from ‘puppy mills’ don’t tend to live very long, earning them the Chinese moniker ‘week-long dog,’ which really speaks volumes about what is going on here,” says Peng. “Over 80 percent of the purchased animals we see have moderate to severe health issues.”
Instead of buying, both pet experts recommend adopting or fostering, especially because, as Peng says, “there’s always someone looking to re-home a pet.”
Getting an older pet from a family that has already been fully vaccinated and de-sexed seems like an ideal situation, especially since dogs, cats and even rabbits in China are susceptible to problems that have been vaccinated out in developed countries, like canine distemper, canine parvovirus and feline distemper.
If someone rescues a dog or cat from the mean streets of Beijing, Dr. Beck says they should quarantine the animal away from children and other pets in a bathroom or spare bedroom for a few days and, of course, take it to a vet for a check-up.
Meanwhile, rabies is another major issue facing pets, and especially dogs, in China, and pet owners are legally bound to have their pets vaccinated against rabies annually.
Peng quotes Ministry of Health figures showing that about 30 to 50 percent of dogs in Beijing are vaccinated against rabies, which is endemic to China, but that China’s entire canine vaccination coverage is “in the single digits, at best.” Public health and animal protection authorities in places like the United States and western European countries ensure that these countries enjoy at least a 70-percent vaccination coverage rate, largely eliminating rabies as a threat to both people and their pets. China, unfortunately, hasn’t caught up in this regard.
Moving with pets
Moreover, many expat families, and an increasing number of Chinese families, move around the world regularly, says Peng. Sometimes they haven’t taken the time to sort out how to take their pets with them or a sudden, unexpected move comes up and there’s not enough time to complete all the entry requirements another country might impose.
Peng says the best thing to do to ensure that any pet can make it out of the country when it’s time to move is to keep the pet up-to-date on vaccinations and to read up on the entry and quarantine requirements imposed by the next country on a family’s agenda. All of this information can be found on the ICVS website, and ICVS also hosts regular seminars on taking pets out of China.
Dr. Beck recommends contacting Doctors Beck & Stone to advertise an adoptable pet or to post ads in local Internet community classifieds, but stresses that “we don’t want to make it too easy to leave your pet” and that they often have more pets up for adoption than can be adopted.
He also says cats are more adjustable to new environments, but dogs consider a family to be their “pack” and will have a lot of anxiety in adjusting to a new environment and family.
Moreover, he urges that evaluating a family’s lifestyle is hugely important in deciding what kind of animal to get in the first place, including deciding between a cat or a dog or a rabbit and even between breeds. Getting the right pet could make a big difference in how a family and their pet get along in the long-run.
Peng agrees, saying ICVS specialists are happy to counsel those considering getting a pet to make sure they come away with a perfect match.
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