China:~Lawyer Sets Up Benevolence Fund For Animals & Calls For Animal Protection Law

[Hand In Hand With Asia]

When Lu Xun was 8 years old, he suffered from a recurring nightmare. In his home village in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, a pig was being led to slaughter.
"I remember the horrible screaming from the pig as it knew it was nearing its end," Lu says. The gruesome scene never left his mind and he resolved to do something to improve the lot of animals.
Now 47, the lawyer and businessman has set up The Benevolence Foundation, what he calls China's first fund dedicated solely to the welfare of its animals.
The move complements his efforts to promote legislation to improve the lives of animals in China.
"Unlike humans, animals cannot speak for themselves if they are suffering from maltreatment. We need to establish laws to protect them," Lu says.
"To some extent, the way a country treats its animals reflects the standards of civilization in that country. China in this aspect should improve itself," Lu says.
Lu invested 2 million yuan ($315,000, 250,000 euros) to set up The Benevolence Foundation in January 2010 and two months later the foundation was invited to participate in the International Forum on Chinese Legislation for the Protection and Management of Animals in Beijing.

In April 2011, the foundation made the headlines when it helped save 280 dogs being sent to restaurants in Changchun, Jilin province.
In July 2012 the foundation signed an agreement with Yuxiangyuan Holding Group, one of the country's biggest beef producers, which sells meat to Walmart and KFC, to use modern and humane equipment to process its products.
"When old and outdated equipment and methods of slaughtering animals are used, it is not only the animals that suffer. Toxic substances might also find their way into products and into human consumption," Lu says.
Many slaughterhouses in China do not use modern and humane equipment, as these can cost 10 times more than older machinery, he says.
To persuade Yuxiangyuan to update its equipment, Lu says, his foundation donated one-quarter of the funds needed for the move.
"Some people do not agree with what I've done. They say in China there are lots of people who are suffering from poverty, and you are creating a foundation for animals?"
But Lu explains that there are many charities for people but few for protecting animals.
Before setting up his animal welfare foundation, Lu took part in other charities in China, including those that helped children who could not afford to go to school and the elderly who did not have adequate housing.
In 2011, Lu also donated 200,000 yuan to Somalia after hearing that the country had suffered one of its most severe droughts in 60 years.
"I'm glad I can help. When you do things that touch others, you are also touched. As a child, I could do nothing about it when I saw animals being slaughtered terribly on the farm.
"But now I am capable of doing something to improve their situation."