Beijing — Practically 150 cats certain for slaughterhouses have been rescued by police in japanese China, a global animal welfare group stated. The animals had been crammed into rusty cages after they had been discovered by police within the japanese metropolis of Jinan in Shandong province, Humane Society Worldwide (HSI) stated in a press release Tuesday.
A gang positioned sparrows in cages as bait and used a distant management to close the traps as quickly as every cat entered, an activist with native animal rights group VShine stated.
"It was surprising to see the state they had been in, a lot of them emaciated and crying out," an activist, who solely supplied their final identify Huang, stated in a press release to HSI. "Our discovery of dozens of reside sparrows used as bait to lure the cats was additionally a giant shock."
A lot of the rescued felines are believed to have been family pets and have been despatched to native animal shelters, the assertion added.
Activists additionally discovered 31 sparrows — a protected species in China — on the scene and launched them again into the wild.
China has no legal guidelines in opposition to animal cruelty, however the suspects might face penalties for looking the birds, property theft and for violations of animal epidemic prevention guidelines.
Round 10 million canine and 4 million cats are killed for human consumption annually in China, in keeping with HSI.
Canine and cat meat is taken into account a delicacy in some components of China, and the commerce of their flesh stays profitable sufficient to spur felony gangs to steal pets, although the behavior has seen a gradual decline as pet possession has risen.
Each June, the town of Yulin in southern China hosts a canine meat pageant, the place reside canines and cats are offered for consuming.
The custom of consuming canine and cats in south China's Guangdong and Guangxi provinces dates again hundreds of years.
"These are China's two essential cat meat consuming hotspots," Dr Peter Li, HSI China coverage specialist, stated in a press release. "All through the remainder of mainland China, cat meat just isn't a part of the meals tradition in any respect."
The COVID-19 outbreak seems to have additional decreased the urge for food for cat and canine meat, after the illness was linked to a market within the central metropolis of Wuhan promoting reside animals for meals.
China banned the consumption and commerce of wildlife in 2020.
The Guangdong cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai banned the consumption of canine and cats in April that yr, turning into the primary cities in China to take action.