The trafficking of cats as part of the meat trade in China is a notoriously cruel and ongoing problem. Reports of stray and owned cats being rounded up, packed into tiny cages, shipped great distances and slaughtered using inhumane methods are widespread.
Although there are no animal welfare laws in China and inhumane treatment of cats or other animals is not illegal, many Chinese citizens are openly opposed to these practices.
Several grassroots animal protection groups based in China are working to stop this shocking trade through a variety of means. Strategies include working with the authorities to point out out the potential risks to food safety and public health, using protests to gain media attention and to pressure authorities, and using TNR (trap-neuter-return) to reduce the numbers of stray cats susceptible to this cruelty.
Humane Society International (HSI) has provided financial assistance to help these efforts and is continuing to monitor the situation for opportunities to offer assistance in the future.
December 23, 2008
On the Reported Public Protest against Cat Trafficking in China
 |
|
| Rounded up and taken away. © iStock.com |
|
Humane Society International (HSI) has been closely following developments in China regarding cat stealing and trafficking. The plight of tens of thousands of cats, erstwhile household pets or urban strays, being shipped over great distance is shocking. When news of cat trafficking first reached the West, HSI issued a statement condemning the cruelty of cat eating and trafficking. In that statement, HSI questioned the ethical and public health consequences of cat eating, a culinary sub-culture in South China.
The recent protests across China suggest cat trafficking is nationwide in scope. Cat trappers were found stealing cats in urban centers in many other parts of the country. The smuggled cats, often sick, traumatized, and on the road for days without food and water, can be a serious health hazard. In view of the public outcries in China, HSI appeals to the Chinese authorities to crack down upon cat trafficking according to relevant Chinese laws governing food safety.
The recent protests in China against cat trafficking cruelty were started by Chinese grassroots protection groups. HSI supports their actions impacting the nation’s culinary culture and human attitude towards nonhuman animals. Since the reported cat stealing calls for a long-term solution, HSI has decided to assist the TNR (trap, neuter and release) project conducted by a local group in Beijing. HSI believes that sterilization of urban strays is one way to help reduce cruelty befalling the large number of homeless animals in urban China and hopes these action will spark similar efforts taken by more local groups across the country.
HSI will continue to monitor developments in China.
Back to top
November 8, 2008
Statement on the Plight of 1,500 Chinese Cats
|
 |
|
A cat on the streets. © Bryan Kortis |
An
August 29th report on the plight of 1,500 Chinese cats, now being publicized worldwide, is shocking. Many of the victims were trapped in the residential areas of greater Shanghai. Some of them may even have been household pets. Crammed into suffocating wooden crates, these erstwhile free souls were shipped under the blazing hot sun to Guangdong Province, the world’s infamous capital of exotic animal eating.
Inhumanity, Not Culture
HSI has long heard about dog and cat eating in mainland China and read about the horrendous conditions dogs, cats and other animals are put through on their long journey to death. Still, on reading the August 29th report and viewing the heart-wrenching photos attached to it, HSI is saddened at human's inhumanity to nonhuman animals.
Cat and dog eating may be culturally unique in China or in other Southeast Asian nations, but HSI believes that this culinary habit does not belong in this new century. Obviously, Westerners are not the only people condemning this eating habit and its associated cruelty. Chinese animal protection activists who intercepted the shipments were speaking volumes against the cat-eating culinary subculture in their own country. Just as cruelty is not culturally specific, opposition to dog and cat eating is not Western only either.
Public Concern
The report does contain several important messages. First, no longer can animal cruelty of this magnitude escape the sharp eyes of Chinese activists. In recent years, the Chinese media has exposed a large number of animal abuse cases. Media exposure has helped sensitize the public to animal suffering.
Second, actions on behalf of our animal friends call for good strategies. The authorities’ fear of an epidemic outbreak occurring if the traumatized cats were released apparently led to the official decision to allow the traffickers to leave with the cats. Had the activists had contingency plans for accommodating the animals, the authorities’ fear would have been a moot point. Understandably, 1,500 cats is a staggering number for Chinese animal shelters, so often financially strapped, so it is understandable that welfare organizations did not have an immediate means to house the animals.
Third, this incident may have already set Chinese activists thinking: "how can we reduce the number of street animals, the most likely victims of this trapping and trafficking business?" Admittedly, there is a lot to be done by China’s burgeoning animal advocacy groups. Yet, these Chinese groups are a major hope for a better future for nonhuman individuals on the Chinese mainland.
Coming Change
Humane Society International (HSI) condemns such cruel acts of cat trapping, trafficking and eating. HSI respects Chinese culture; yet, feel it's their obligation to voice their views against those practices that run counter to China’s own tradition of kindness and universal love. It is HSI's conviction that a nation that succeeded in outlawing foot-binding, a practice once zealously guarded, will have the capacity to end the plight of dogs and cats in the near future.
Peter Li contributed to this statement.
Back to top
June 6, 2007
Chinese Animal Advocates Stop Brutal Slaughter of Cats in Tianjin
 |
| © CSAPA 2007 |
| A volunteer holds one of the rescued cats. |
By Carly Ikuma
On January 25, cat lovers from Tianjin, a city 85 miles east of Beijing, entered the Minquan Flower and Bird Market and demanded that more than 400 caged cats be released immediately to their care.
The cats, who were to be inhumanely slaughtered for their meat, cowered in their small, crowded cages. Most were malnourished, some were pregnant or already giving birth. All were visibly terrified.
The protesters argued that some of these cats were stolen pets, and when the confrontation between the cat owners and animal welfare advocates and the meat sellers heated up, police were called. Professor Lu Di, founder of the China Small Animal Protection Association (CSAPA), also stepped in to mediate.
What happened next is extraordinary in a country where animal welfare laws do not exist.
Though the advocates had no proof the animals were owned pets, the meat traders were pressured to release the cats to the care of CSAPA. On the evening of February 11, 415 rescued cats arrived at CSAPA headquarters in Beijing with the assistance of dozens of volunteers and 16 students from the China Agricultural University.
Some of the cats were seriously injured or in critical condition, and five were already dead. Most were suffering from severe upper respiratory infections and others bore visible signs of abuse from their time at the Market. Veterinary clinics in the area took the most acute cases and volunteers cared for the rest.
Upon arrival, the volunteers slowly opened the cages to transfer the cats, but they were too frightened to come out. Eventually, after soft coaxing and patience, some of the cats were able to be moved. Three hours after arriving at CSAPA headquarters, most of the cats had fallen asleep, finally able to relax.
This was the largest animal rescue operation in Beijing area history. It also represents the changing attitude of Chinese towards animals and their welfare. In November 2006, Beijing instituted strict rules governing the ownership of dogs; violators had their canine companions confiscated and allegedly killed. A protest brought more than 500 people to the entrance of the Beijing zoo to voice support for animal welfare legislation and displeasure with the regulations—almost unheard of in a country where protests are strictly forbidden.
As soon as news of the remarkable cat rescue reached them, Humane Society International (HSI) gave CSAPA a small amount of emergency funding to help offset costs. HSI is hoping their actions will inspire other advocates in China to take steps to prevent further unnecessary animal suffering in the country's notoriously cruel meat and fur markets.
Animal protection organizations in China are working hard for the passage of China's first animal welfare laws. HSI continues to press for humane animal control programs and better treatment of farm animals as well as sponsoring a training workshop for veterinarians in China in late 2007.
Back to top
Updated May 5, 2009
