Chinese Police Save 150 Cats Want To Be Bringed To Guard: Stimulated In A Kerkarat Kandang, Dipumpan Using Bird

Illustration of a cat. (Unsplash/Tong Nguyen van)

JAKARTA - About 150 cats suspected of being taken to the guard have been rescued by police in eastern China, according to international animal welfare organizations.

The animals were crammed into rusty cages, when they were found by police in the eastern city of Jinan, Shandong Province, the Humane Society International (HSI) said in a statement.

A gang put sparrows in cages as bait, using remote controls to close traps as soon as every cat entered, an activist from local animal rights group VShine said.

"It came as a surprise to see their condition, many of them were skinny and crying," said one activist, who only mentioned their last name Huang, in a statement to HSI, citing CNA from AFP Aug. 31.

Most of the cats that were rescued are believed to be domestic pets and have been sent to local animal shelters, the statement added.

In addition, activists also found 31 sparrows, a protected species in China, at the scene and released them back into the wild.

"Our discovery of dozens of live sparrows used as bait, to lure cats is also a big surprise," Huang said.

China is known to have no law on preventing atrocities against animals, but suspects could face penalties for hunting birds, property theft and violating animal epidemic prevention rules.

It is known that about 10 million dogs and 4 million cats are killed for human consumption every year in China, according to HSI.

Dog and cat meat is considered delicious in parts of China, while their meat trade remains quite profitable to spur criminal gangs to steal pets. Although, the habit has seen a steady decline along with the increase in pet ownership.

Every June, the City of Yulin in southern China organizes a dog meat festival, where live dogs and cats are sold for consumption.

In addition, the tradition of eating dogs and cats in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in southern China has existed since thousands of years ago.

"These are the two main places to eat cat meat in China," said Dr Peter Li, a Chinese HSI policy specialist, in a statement.

"Over mainland China, cat meat is not a part of the food culture at all."

China itself banned consumption and wildlife trade in 2020. The cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai in Guangdong banned the consumption of dogs and cats in April of that year, becoming the first cities in China to do so.