People choose not to eat meat for various reasons such as concern for animal welfare, the environmental impact of meat production (environmental vegetarianism), and health considerations. While some countries are more respectful than others when it comes to their approach to animals, China however, is not one of those countries — and never has been. Photos have emerged this week of multiple animals, including endangered species, stuffed in tiny cages, plus piles of skinned birds, bats, snakes, and other species that are part of our Earth’s eco-system —from a food market that is being considered as the origin point of the coronavirus outbreak, a virus threatening the health of populations in multiple countries around the world.
The sale of live animals is deeply-rooted in Chinese culture, but their persistence in killing animals, all kinds of animals, and selling them in ‘food’ markets is once again causing an international health crisis. One has to wonder if China has learnt any lesson from the 2002 outbreak of Sars, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, as similar virus outbreak which was traced back to the consumption of wild animals in Guangzhou.
Demand for wild animals in Asia, especially China, has resulted in the extinction of many species, on top of posing a health threat that authorities have failed to fully address despite growing risks of a global pandemic.
In response to the crisis that has been centred in the big industrial city of Wuhan, China’s Agriculture Ministry issued an order earlier this week ordering tightened controls on trade in wildlife — but this is simply not enough.
A photo of a menu list from a seller in the Wuhan market (circulated online) showed more than 110 species for sale — species that would have posed no threat to human life had they had been left alone. We are easily able to co-exist without the need to kill, slice, skin, and then display at these so called ‘food markets’.
The reality is a plant-based world would be ideal given human consumption of wildlife means the public will continue to face heightened risks from potential new viruses.
It’s been sixty years since the Asian influenza pandemic and almost two decades after Sars, but China remains ‘ground zero’ for the emergence of many dangerous new infections. The country’s wet markets, where shoppers are in narrow spaces with everything from live poultry to snakes, are seen as a key reason to why this has to stop.
The author is an expert in vegan wellbeing and health. Instagram handle: @Ghanim92
Ghanim al-Sulaiti
