Collation of Proposals, Motions and Recommendations for the 2023 National People’s Congress (I)

Zhao Wanping, Deputy to the National People’s Congress and Vice-President of Anhui Provincial Agricultural Science College

1. Proposal to include kindness to animals in the evaluation of civilized cities

The National People’s Congress calls for the inclusion of animal-friendly treatment as part of the standards for civilised cities, to promote the creation of cities in practice, and to educate the public through various public awareness channels to oppose animal cruelty, keep pets in a civilised manner, and eradicate the bad habit of eating wild animals and companion animals indiscriminately.

It is also proposed that spiritual civilisation offices at all levels should use the performance of a region or city in treating animals well, and in creating a harmonious ecological environment for people and animals, as an indicator for evaluating the performance of the city. It will also re-evaluate the eligibility of cities that abuse the administrative practice of killing domestic animals in the name of creating a civilised environment, helping to build a civilised city where people and animals live in harmony.

2. Proposal to Ban the Illegal Meat Chain of Dogs and Cats

It is recommended that more vigorous efforts be made to crack down on the slaughter and consumption of dog and cat meat, to launch a nationwide campaign to eliminate dog and cat slaughter stalls on the street, and to improve the quality and safety traceability system for food animal products, so as to stop dogs and cats from entering illegal slaughterhouses and then reaching the dining table. He also proposes to ban the trade in dogs and cats for purposes other than companionship.

3. Proposal to include animal public interest damage cases in the scope of public interest litigation

While wild animal protection and the dissemination of animal cruelty information on the internet have been included in the scope of public interest litigation, the illegal dog and cat meat industry chain, private breeding of dogs and cats, private slaughter of livestock and poultry, cruelty to experimental animals and unregulated experiments, cruelty to animals in public, and the mailing of live animals other than wild animals have not yet been included in the scope of public interest litigation.

It is proposed that all cases involving public interest damage to animals be included in the scope of public interest litigation, and that the rights of environmental protection, animal protection, consumer protection and other relevant social organisations to bring public interest litigation against public interest damage to animals be clarified.