An open letter to the Shenyang Municipal Government

On May 25, 2026, Shenyang City held a press conference to promote the high-quality development of the pet economy, announcing the "Implementation Plan of Shenyang City on Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Pet Economy" and related support policies, which aroused strong attention and widespread controversy in all sectors of society.

The World Dog Alliance believes that Shenyang's efforts to meet the emotional needs of its people through pet economy development are a good thing. However, focusing solely on profit can lead to unregulated breeding, causing physical and mental harm to dogs and cats. Relevant regulations and an effective regulatory system should be established to ensure the dual progress of local economic development and social civilization.

Therefore, we suggest withdrawing the current implementation plan and conducting in-depth discussions with the Shenyang Municipal People's Congress and relevant management departments to make Shenyang a civilized city that treats dogs and cats kindly and a model for the whole country.

(1) Strictly control disorderly breeding, eliminate inbreeding, and cultivate high-quality “Chinese Native Dog”, making them the second most important national treasure after pandas;

(2) Establish an anti-cruelty animal supervision and punishment mechanism, and establish a horizontal supervision and guidance platform for relevant government departments;

(3) Strictly prevent unsold dogs and cats from being sold cheaply to restaurants as food, and from being fed to people like pigs, cattle and sheep.

On March 31, 2020, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, China's most civilized and advanced cities, enacted laws explicitly banning the consumption of dogs and cats, laying a solid foundation for legislation banning the consumption of dogs and cats throughout China.

On May 27, 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs removed dogs from the National Catalogue of Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources and specialized dogs as "companion animals." This is a historic guiding regulation.

Developing the pet economy presents both an opportunity and a challenge. We reiterate our call to immediately withdraw and revise the plan, making Shenyang a national model for civilized pet ownership.

The World Dog Alliance will in a few days time provide some regulations and implementation plans for breeding dogs and cats in various countries around the world for reference.