The city of Shezhen has become the first in China to ban the sale and consumption of cats and dogs amid a broader effort to scale back wildlife trade after it was linked to the nation’s coronavirus outbreak.

While little is still known about the novel coronavirus, scientists suspect it was initially passed from animals to humans. Some of the first cases emerged in visitors of a wildlife market in the city of Wuhan known for selling less conventional critters, like bats and snakes.

The discovery prompted an announced ban on wildlife trade and consumption across China, and an even further clampdown in the city of Shezhen that extended the ban to dogs and cats.

Source: Daily News

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