His Excellency, Hu Jintao,
We, the undersigned, wish to express our deep concern about
widespread animal suffering in China. We are particularly concerned
about the deplorable conditions in zoos exposed by
recent investigations, the practice of live feeding of animals
in zoos and the plight of dogs killed for meat.
We welcome the moves that China has made to protect endangered
wildlife and respectfully request the introduction of general animal
protection legislation to prevent cruelty to all animals.
Recent surveys show that most of the Chinese people are
concerned about the welfare of sentient animals and strongly in
favour of such legislation. Creating a law offering some protection
to animals would be widely welcomed by the international community
and help consolidate China’s position among leading nations.