Tag: consumption

UPDATE: HSI-Africa reached out to the Express requesting its article be corrected, which it has now done, amending the headline and correcting the statements accordingly.

Humane Society International / South Africa

South Africa—Following publication of an online story in the UK’s Daily Express newspaper, published (11 May 2020), Humane Society International-Africa has released the following statement of clarification regarding the misleading nature of its headline and various quotes attributed to Audrey Delsink, HSI-Africa’s wildlife director.

HSI-Africa’s Audrey Delsink addressed the global wildlife trade in a recent phone interview with the Express and detailed the sad reality that pangolins are the most trafficked land mammal and are illegally trafficked from South Africa to China, to be eaten as delicacies and used in traditional medical elixirs. Delsink also explained that pangolins have been cited as one of the possible intermediate hosts for the virus, to which scientists believe humans were first exposed at a wildlife market in Wuhan, China.

While Delsink conceded that it is not inconceivable a pangolin trafficked from South Africa could have ended up in a wildlife market in Wuhan, China, where the conditions were such that COVID-19 first evolved, she made no suggestion at all that the virus originated in South Africa. The article incorrectly implies that a South African pangolin was the “host” and carried the disease from South Africa, which is not the view of Delsink or of HSI and for this reason HSI-Africa has reached out to the Express, requesting for the article to be corrected.

“The trade in wildlife through incredibly inhumane methods is not just an animal welfare concern, but it poses risks to public health. Scientists have linked the COVID-19 pandemic to wildlife trade – specifically to the consumption of wildlife at a market in Wuhan, China. Globally, animals, including endangered animals, are found at wildlife markets, held in close confinement and sold for consumption, fashion, medicine and the pet trade. We urge governments to learn from this crisis and to ban the trade in wildlife for these purposes to minimise the risks of future zoonotic disease outbreaks”, said Delsink.

Humane Society International, along with many other international organisations, has called on governments to urgently ban in the trade in and consumption of wild animals worldwide. Last month, Humane Society International published a science-based white paper, WILDLIFE MARKETS and COVID-19, addressing the links between zoonotic diseases and the wildlife trade.

Fast facts:

  • Zoonotic diseases are responsible for over two billion cases of human illness and over two million human deaths each year.
  • Zoonoses account for 58% of all known human pathogens, and for 73% of all emerging infectious diseases affecting humans.
  • Risk of disease transmission is prevalent across all aspects of wildlife trade, which also supplies products to the traditional medicine industry.
  • Chinese academics have called on the government to support transitioning the wildlife farming industry away from the production of traditional medicine,as studies have highlighted that over 80% of Traditional Medicine consumers would consider herbal or synthetic alternatives to wild animal products.
  • In South Africa, there is a legal lion bone trade that primarily feeds the Asian market for traditional medicine,as well as luxury items that serve as a status symbol. Currently, there are approximately 12,000 lions – living in captive facilities to supply this industry – four times more than the entire South African wild lion population.
  • The consumption of wildlife products has been linked to zoonotic diseases,and the captive conditions are conducive to the development of new emerging pathogens.

ENDS 

Media Contact: HSI-Africa: Leozette Roode, media & outreach manager, lroode@hsi.org, +2771 360 1104

Humane Society International dismayed that farmed wildlife are listed as livestock despite COVID-19 risks

Humane Society International / China

Dogs rescued from a slaughterhouse in Yulin, China, June 2019.

BEIJING—China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has for the first time ever explicitly stated that dogs are companion animals and not “livestock,” in what could potentially be a game-changer moment for Chinese regional governments to follow the lead of Shenzhen city and ban the eating of cats and dogs, says long time anti-dog meat campaigners Humane Society International.

The draft document of the National Catalogue of Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources was published by the national government on April 8th, which is currently accepting input from Chinese animal protection groups on the policy. It provides a list of animals considered “livestock” including pigs, ducks, chickens and others but omits dogs and cats. The livestock list proposes the only species that can be traded for meat, and the Ministry provides the first ever explanation for their omission, stating:

“With the progress of human civilization and the public’s concern and preference for animal protection, dogs have changed from traditional domestic animals to companion animals. Dogs are generally not regarded as livestock and poultry around the world, and China should also not manage them as livestock and poultry.”

Dogs and cats have never been listed as “livestock” before, but the national government in China has never officially commented on their omission until now. Coming so soon after the city of Shenzhen became the first city in mainland China to ban the consumption of dogs and cats, Humane Society International is hopeful that this could signal a critically important shift in China’s desire to see an end to the dog and cat meat trade.

Dr. Peter Li, China policy specialist at Humane Society International, says: “This is the first time we’ve ever seen China’s national government explain that dogs are companion animals. Recognizing that dogs hold a special bond with humans is an essential first step towards eliminating the consumption and trade in dog meat.  This could be a pivotal moment that provides encouragement for other cities across the country to follow Shenzhen’s lead to ban the eating of dogs and cats.

“Companion animals have never been part of China’s culinary mainstream, and certainly most people in China want an end to the theft of their companion animals for a meat trade that only a small percentage of the population indulge in. Tens of millions of dogs and cats every year, mostly stolen pets, suffer for the meat trade which is almost entirely fuelled by crime and, perhaps most significantly right now, poses an undeniable human health threat with the risk of diseases such as rabies and cholera.”

The proposed livestock list also includes a variety of farmed wildlife species such as Sika deer, red deer, reindeer, alpaca, ostrich, as well as species typically farmed in their millions in China for the global fur trade, specifically mink, silver fox, blue fox and raccoon dog.

Dr. Teresa Telecky, vice president of wildlife at HSI, says: “Listing wild animals, including foxes and raccoon dogs, as ‘special livestock’ is concerning. Rebranding wildlife as livestock doesn’t alter the fact that there are insurmountable challenges to keeping these species in commercial captive breeding environments, and that their welfare needs simply can’t be met. In addition, there’s clear evidence that some of these species can act as intermediate hosts of viruses, such as COVID-19, which is why we’re urging governments around the world to stop trading in wildlife.”

Facts about China’s dog meat trade

  1. Thirty million dogs a year are killed across Asia for meat. There are estimated to be more than 91.49 million dogs and cats kept as pets in China. An estimated 10 million dogs a year are killed for China’s dog meat trade.
  2. The World Health Organisation warns that the dog trade spreads rabies and increases the risk of cholera.
  3. Most people in China don’t eat dogs, in fact dog meat is only eaten infrequently by less than 20% of the Chinese population. A 2017 survey revealed that even in Yulin, home of the notorious dog meat festival, most people (72%) don’t regularly eat dog meat despite efforts by dog meat traders to promote it. Nationwide across China, a 2016 survey conducted by Chinese polling company Horizon, and commissioned by Chinese group China Animal Welfare Association in collaboration with Humane Society International and Avaaz, found that most Chinese citizens (64%) want to see an end to the Yulin festival, more than half (51.7%) think the dog meat trade should be completely banned, and the majority (69.5%) have never eaten dog meat.
  4. Shenzhen’s food safety legislation (Shenzhen Special Economic Region Regulation on a Comprehensive Ban on the Consumption of Wild Animals) was first proposed in February by Shenzhen legislators, and comes into effect on 1st May. Article 3 makes clear that the consumption of “pet” animals such as cats and dogs is not permitted.

Download video and photos of China’s dog meat trade.

END

Media contact: Wendy Higgins, whiggins@hsi.org

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