Can anyone stop this?
In order to save the cats, some people from Nanjing called the police. However, China Railway Express, which was the forwarding agent, had all the necessary paperwork for the transfer so police could not interfere.
According to the railway shipping regulations, the forwarding agency needs only to provide Animal Inspection and Quarantine certification when shipping poultry (which includes cats), and the China Railway Express was able to provide both. The Quarantine Certification was issued by the veterinary inspection institution of Muyang Town, Jiangsu Province.
A netizen who posted the pictures also wrote the cats would be made to a famous Guangdong dish called “Shui Zhu Hua Mao”, meaning water boiled live cat. The chef paralyzes the cat and throws it into boiled water before skinning it. Once it’s cut into pieces, it’s used to make soup.
Guangdong is famous for its cat eating culture. According to statistics, Guangdong Province consumes almost 100,000 cats every day. People believe cats are good for their health, and eat them especially in winter.
Cat dealers in Muyang can send thousands of cats to Guangzhou in one shipment. “It’s not just a day or two that people catch or steal cats, and it’s not one or two dealers doing this. This is a whole industry chain!” a cat dealer said. People who catch cats are at the low end. One person can catch up to about 20 cats a night. One cat sells for about RMB 10. A cat dealer stand usually buys between 100 to 300 cats from cat catchers. Then they will sell to a bigger cat dealer stand or directly to the market. A big cat dealer stand can receive thousands of cats at one time.
This cat dealer also said dealers in Guangzhou sometimes want lots of cats urgently. They often kind find enough in Muyang, so they go to wholesale dealers who have stands under the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge. This is the biggest transfer market for Nanjing cat dealers.Read more….
