BEIJING, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International Fund
for Animal Welfare (IFAW - www.ifaw.org) applauds China for drafting
the country's first animal welfare legislation, which would make
animal abuse and cruelty a punishable offence. A draft of the Animal
Protection Law which outlines the basic standards for treating all
animals in different situations is published online for public
comment, from a legal conference in Beijing, China.

Recently, several Chinese cities have forged ahead with dog culls
citing concerns of rabies, leaving tens of thousands of dogs brutally
killed. Such slaughter would be stemmed should this law be passed.

In addition to releasing the draft animal protection law, changes
regarding China's Criminal Law were also suggested, making animal
abuse a punishable offence.

Millions of animals suffer horribly every year from cruelty in zoos
and parks, on farms, markets and the streets, in laboratories and
during the process of transport and slaughter. Often ignorant about
how animals can feel pain, people treat animals only as a "resource"
and do the cruelest things to them. Foxes are skinned alive for their
fur. Bears have open wounds in their bodies to extract their bile.
Tigers, with their teeth and claws pulled out, are chained to the
ground for picture-taking with tourists. Cats are boiled alive before
they are eaten. Dogs are clubbed and stoned to death in the name of
"rabies prevention and population control."

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