Woman in China wants to make a coat for a cold stray cat

This is a picture of a woman in China who is measuring up a stray cat for a coat. The picture you see was taken on the night of October 25 in the city of Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province which is in northern China. We don’t know the name of the good Samaritan in the photograph. 

The woman was filmed apparently planning to make a coat for the white stray cat that you see. She appears to be putting some felt material on the cat's back. The still image is part of a video captured by a passing woman who was with her husband. They spoke to the woman and found out that she was looking after some stray dogs as well. It tells us that this there are people in China who are very concerned about animal welfare. Sometimes people in in the West forget this because we see animal cruelty perpetrated at the wet food markets or the cat and dog meat market in the south of China and of course we can't forget the industrial scale of the cat and dog fur market. China is the major exporter of cat and dog fur. The industry is known for its cruelty.

The gentleness and kindness of the woman in the photograph also reminds us that there are no general animal welfare laws in China even in the 21st-century. The cat you see in the photograph is not protected by a nationwide animal welfare law. Thousands of years without proper protection of animals under the law has resulted in, I would argue, a generally poor relationship between the citizens of that country and their animals. This is manifested in the above-mentioned businesses which are based on animal cruelty. I know it is politically incorrect to criticise another country either directly or by implication but it is impossible to avoid it. 

 

Let's just say that this woman is an individual who is concerned about animal welfare and let's say that the government of China is not concerned about animal welfare. There is a disconnect between some citizens of the country and the government. But everyone says that there is a huge pressing need for the Chinese government to introduce animal welfare legislation ASAP in order to bring the country into the 21st century with respect to the relationship between the citizens and animals.