‘We can’t carry on exploiting animals’: Ricky Gervais calls for an end to ‘wildlife wet markets’ and warns that we WILL face another pandemic if they continue to stay open
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Actor and writer Ricky Gervais has called for an end to ‘wildlife wet markets’ and claims we WILL face another pandemic if they continue to stay open.
The 58-year-old’s words come after China banned the sale of dog meat, as he urged politicians to introduce a global ban.
He told The Mirror: ‘For the sake of people and animals, wildlife trade and consumption has to end, now.
‘We can’t carry on exploiting animals’: Ricky Gervais has called for an end to ‘wildlife wet markets’ and warned that we WILL face another pandemic if they continue to stay open
He said : ‘For the sake of people and animals, wildlife trade and consumption has to end, now. We can’t carry on exploiting animals, eating wildlife and trashing the planet’
‘We can’t carry on exploiting animals, eating wildlife and trashing the planet. The wildlife trade and markets have to close, otherwise it will be a case of when, and not if, we have another global pandemic.
‘How bad does this have to get before you close down Indonesia’s extreme animal markets that pose the exact same risk as the wildlife wet markets in Wuhan, China?’
In the UK alone, there have now been a staggering 10,612 deaths and 84,279 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
Horrific: The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has said it recognises dogs as ‘companion animals’ and ‘not suitable’ to be managed as livestock in a drafted directive. The picture shows butchered dogs being sold at a market in the Chinese city of Yulin at a festival on June 21, 2016
Globally, there have been a tragic 114,982 lives lost to the virus.
China has excluded dogs from farm animals in a drafted directive, which could see canine meat being barred from the dinner plate across the country.
The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said it recognises dogs as ‘companion animals’ and ‘not suitable’ to be managed as livestock in the document released on Thursday.
Support: Ricky has also been very vocal in thanking the NHS for putting their own lives at risk amid the coronavirus pandemic in a bid to save others
Springwatch presenter Michaela Strachan, 54, said: ‘I have seen the appalling conditions in wild animal markets. It’s shockingly cruel, terrifyingly unhygienic, unethical and often illegal’
Only the animals officially listed as livestock or poultry can be bred, raised, traded and transported for commercial purposes in China, according to China’s Animal Husbandry Law.
This means the proposal can potentially prevent around 10 million dogs being killed for their meat every year in the country.
Ricky is not the first celebrity to call for the markets to be shut down. TV presenter Philippa Forrester, 51, urged governments need to do their part.
She said: ‘We’re asking impoverished people to make a huge cultural and economic shift.
‘It isn’t easy for a man who has sold dogs to feed his family to just give up his income, however abhorrent we feel it is, so the support needs to come from the top.’
Springwatch presenter Michaela Strachan, 54, agreed.
She said: ‘I have seen the appalling conditions in wild animal markets. It’s shockingly cruel, terrifyingly unhygienic, unethical and often illegal.
‘The pain and terror animals go through makes me feel sick to my stomach. It’s like something from medieval times.’
No law prevents people from abusing animals in China
Chinese activists have been urging for a law to protect the welfare of animals for years
While China has laws to safeguard land-based and aquatic wildlife, it currently lacks legislation to protect animal welfare or to prevent cruelty towards animals.
In September 2009, animal rights activists and legal experts began circulating a draft Law on the Protection of Animals and in 2010, a draft Law on the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for the State Council’s consideration, according to Human Rights in China, a Chinese non-governmental organisation based in New York.
The draft proposes a fine of up to 6,000 yuan (£693) and two weeks’ detention for those found guilty of animal cruelty, according to China Daily. However till this day, no progress has been made.
While the country’s first ever legislation protecting animal welfare has yet to be adopted, the increasing cases of animal abandonment and serious cruelty towards animals such as killing of dogs and burning of cats have led to serious resentment within society.