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 Scientists
suspect the coronavirus passed to humans from animals. Some of the
earliest infections were found in people who had exposure to a
wildlife market in the central city of Wuhan, where bats, snakes,
civets and other animals were sold.
The disease has infected more than 935,000 people around the world
and killed some 47,000 of them.
Authorities in the southern Chinese technology hub said the ban on
eating dogs and cats would come into force on May 1.
"Dogs and cats as pets have established a much closer relationship
with humans than all other animals, and banning the consumption of
dogs and cats and other pets is a common practice in developed
countries and in Hong Kong and Taiwan," the city government said in
an order posted on Wednesday.
"This ban also responds to the demand and spirit of human
civilization."
China's top legislature said in late February it was banning the
trade and consumption of wild animals.
Provincial and city governments across the country have been moving
to enforce the ruling but Shenzhen has been the most explicit about
extending that ban to dogs and cats.
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Dogs, in particular, are eaten in several parts of Asia.
Liu Jianping, an official with the Shenzhen Center for Disease Prevention and
Control, said that the poultry, livestock and seafood available to consumers
were sufficient.
"There is no evidence showing that wildlife is more nutritious than poultry and
livestock," Liu was quoted as saying by the state-owned media Shenzhen Daily.
Shenzhen's initial rules, first proposed in late February, [L3N2AR2CQ] appeared
to ban the consumption of turtles and frogs - both common dishes in China's
south.
But the city government acknowledged this week that this had been a "a hot point
of controversy" and clarified that both could be eaten.
The city's campaign to stop the eating of wildlife has won praise from animal
welfare groups.
"Shenzhen is the first city in the world to take the lessons learned from this
pandemic seriously and make the changes needed to avoid another pandemic," said
Teresa M. Telecky, the vice president of the wildlife department for Humane
Society International.
"Shenzhen’s bold steps to stop this trade and wildlife consumption is a model
for governments around the world to emulate."
(Reporting by David Kirton; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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