Chang Jiwen is the principal drafter of one of China’s knottiest and most controversial pieces of proposed legislation: The Animal Protection Law, now amended as the Animal Anti-Cruelty Law.

It is not likely to be enacted soon, but other laws and regulations are gradually advancing animal welfare.

Chang is resented by many people who fear their livelihood involving rough and cruel treatment of animals would be threatened by a broad welfare law, including criminal punishment as well as fines. They include dog traffickers, dog thieves, illegal slaughter houses, among many others.

Eating dog meat is not illegal and is very popular in some areas.

The original draft welfare law issued in September 2009 did not ban consumption of cats and dogs. The amended draft, now called the anti-cruelty law, makes a ban optional, leaving it to local authorities.

In areas where the ban is implemented, individuals could be fined up to 5,000 yuan (US$730) for violations. Organizations found to be selling dog and cat meat could be fined between 10,000 and 500,000 yuan.

It would ban cruel circus acts and animal entertainment; it requires humane conditions in zoos. This was prompted by the deliberate starvation of Siberian tigers in a zoo, in order to use their bones and body parts for costly traditional medicine.

The draft does not mention moon bears, which are widely farmed and cruelly treated to obtain their bile.

But it does ban the use of nationally protected (bears are Level 2 protected) wild animals bodies and organs to make medicine, clothes, cosmetics, wine and other products.

 It recommends gradually eliminating use of wild animals to make many products, such as traditional medicine, wine, clothing, cosmetics, and furs.

It notes that effective natural medical alternatives are being developed.

The proposed anti-cruelty law was submitted to the National People’s Congress in April 2010. The public is invited to comment.

The draft focusing on cruelty has wide-ranging implications. It defines “animal welfare” as the right of animals to be free of thirst and hunger, discomfort, pain, injury and disease. They should be free from fear and distress and able to behave normally.

“After the first draft was released in 2009, it drew a lot of attention,” said Chang, a law researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

“The government takes a very cautious attitude toward this issue. It fears the public will misunderstand and think the government is putting animals’ welfare above people’s well-being,” he said.

Chang said it could take as long as 10 or 20 years for legislation to be adopted, perhaps a basic law in 10 years.

“Animal protection is a moral issue and the biggest problem in establishing a law is still lack of awareness and recognition of animals’ important place in the natural order,” he told Shanghai Daily recently in a telephone interview from Beijing.

“How people treat animals reveals the way that people treat vulnerable groups. The brutal abuse or killing of an animal, is actually torturing the human mind,” he said.

Chang said he was optimistic about prospects of broad legislation and said there had already been breakthroughs in recent years with other laws and regulations.

He cited the action in 2010 by the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development to ban animal circus performances. It asked zoos to provide good living conditions for animals. Regulations are contained in the national Zoo Development Program Outline. In May this year, it urged all zoos to follow the program.

“In general, we are confident this must lead to a better place. The law is designed to protect morality. Codifying society’s moral standards takes time, we understand this,” he said.

China, meanwhile, has many other laws and regulations related to animal welfare of all kinds, notably on wildlife protection, but there is nothing comprehensive.

Chang has devoted himself to animal protection for 10 years. After years of research, he started to draft the law in 2008. He assembled a team of eight legal experts in animal and environmental protection. They received advice from international organizations such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Animals Asia, and the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The same team worked on the amended draft anti-cruelty law.

Many social problems are caused by lack of moral and civilized behavior, and the animal abuse issue is part of this, Chang said.

Anti-cruelty law

Chang said he hopes legislators will talk to people and hear different voices about animal welfare.

The latest draft bans and criminalises abusing animals and provoking them to fight each other. It stipulates that zoos treat animals humanely.

It requires humane raising and slaughter of poultry and livestock.

It urges minimal use of animals in laboratory experiments. They should be treated humanely, it says.

Dogs and companion animals must not be abused or abandoned, it says.

Critics have said it’s too early and a luxury for China to focus on the welfare of animals at a time when there are so many human issues to tackle.

“Guaranteeing animal welfare will eventually benefit people’s daily life, and it is very important in building a harmonious society,” Chang said.

In 1999, he was a young scholar in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and studied environmental resource protection.

He was assigned to a project involving the World Trade Organization and the drafting of Chinese legislation to protect laboratory animals. After extensive research, he concluded that the lack of a comprehensive animal welfare law means that animal welfare cannot be guaranteed. This was and is a barrier in some international trade, he said.

Chang told Shanghai Daily that the draft law could help break down trade barriers against Chinese animal products, such as leather and fur. Some Western countries ban imports of Chinese animal products, citing inhumane treatment.

Since China is the world’s largest meat producer, humane slaughter is the “easiest and most direct” starting point in animal welfare, said Chang.

In 2005, an online video of a raccoon skinned alive shocked Chang; he was determined to work on legislation. At that time he was a studying scholar in Germany where the video was widely circulated, as in many Western countries. It drew enormous criticism and protest.

“If this inhumane behavior becomes more widespread, China will become a brutal country in the eyes of developed countries. It doesn’t help the image on the world stage.”

After the video, China’s fur exports declined sharply.

“But I’m convinced — along with greater awareness of animal welfare — laws and regulations will become more sophisticated and complete,” Chang said. “I feel optimistic and do what I think is right.”