A new law is on the way to set new rules for animal protection after the death of Siberian tigers in Shenyang.

The proposed Anti-Cruelty Law was published yesterday. New clauses were added to the draft of the Animal Protection Law that came out last September, including forbidding animal abuse by starvation in zoos and animal slaughter in the presence of the underage. Chang Jiwen, the principal drafter of the new law says the proposal manuscript will be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress next week.

Siberian tiger at the zoo.

Since its proposal last September, the draft of the Animal Protection Law has collected more than 700 pieces of advice by mid-January 2010, said Chang, who is also the director of the Social Law Office in the Law Institution of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Some clauses in the draft, including ones that criminalize abusing animals and provoking animals to fight against each other, are preserved. Chang also said that in response to the accident that happened to the Siberian tigers dying of hunger in Shenyang, new clauses were introduced to prohibit animal abuse by starvation in zoos and killing animals in the presence of the underage.

Regarding the eating of cats and dogs in parts of China, the proposed law deals with it flexibly according to local situations.