Animal lovers were disappointed yesterday after initial celebrations over a state media headline - which turned out to be misleading - that the mainland would soon be legislating its first animal protection law.
'This is not a government draft,' said Lu Di, chairwoman of the China Small Animal Protection Association, after reading the content of the report in The Mirror, an authoritative state newspaper on legal matters. 'It is just a group of experts sitting down and agreeing on a draft.'
She said lawmakers sympathetic to animal rights have for seven years petitioned the National People's Congress, the country's legislature, with draft laws, but have not been successful.
'Whether this draft will be accepted by the government is still a big question mark,' Ms Lu said.
Chang Jiwen, a lead researcher at the Law Research Centre of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), was quoted by The Mirror as saying that the country's first Animal Protection Law had entered the final draft stage.
The draft, written by CASS in collaboration with several universities, would then go through public and expert consultation before being submitted to the relevant government departments. If the government supports the draft, it will be submitted to the National People's Congress.
However, Ms Lu said the report still meant that support is growing for the fight against animal cruelty.
