There have been sporadic reports of dogs and cats being killed
for their fur in a number of countries, including Mongolia,
Korea, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The HSUS
investigation focused on China, a country believed to be a
major source of dog and cat fur, as well as representative of
the trade in these pelts—where we were able to develop leads
and connections to provide us with undercover access.
Investigators visited state-run "animal by-products"
companies in Beijing and in the provinces of Hebei,
Heilongjiang, and Henan to uncover detailed information on the
manufacture and trade of dog and cat fur. China also has a
thriving business in dog meat; cat meat is reportedly eaten
only in Canton.
We learned that dogs and cats are generally raised on
breeding farms, mostly in northern China where the colder
climate enhances the quality and thickness of the animals'
coats. Anywhere from five to 300 dogs may be kept in stock at
dog farms; up to 70 cats may be kept at cat farms. Often, dogs
and cats killed for fur don't come from a formal breeding
operation. A Chinese family may simply keep a few cats, or a
dog or two, then during the winter when the annual slaughter
season begins, the family will kill the animals and take the
pelts to market. Many villages have open-air fur markets that
serve as collection points for the pelts of dogs and cats
killed locally.
Dogs
Investigators visited one dog farm several hours north of
the city of Harbin. They documented live dogs in an unheated
room in the bitter cold, surrounded by the bodies of dead dogs
hanging from hooks. Some of the live dogs were destined to be
sold and eaten in Harbin, their fur sold to the fur trade. The
dogs were packed into sacks and transported by motor vehicle to
a slaughterhouse—a journey of several hours.
In Harbin investigators witnessed dogs kept in a dark,
unheated building in the cold of February without food or
water. They were tethered by thin metal wires. Investigators
were told that the butcher at this place kills 10 to 12 dogs a
day, selling their flesh and fur, and that his wife often
transports the dogs from the breeding farms in the north.
For some of the dogs brought to Harbin, the journey wasn't
over. Because some restaurants (most often Korean) want really
fresh meat, some of these hapless dogs were once again put into
sacks, then taken to their final destination. At one restaurant
the investigator watched as a dog was taken out of a sack. The
others were left in the sack on the icy ground. As each dog was
taken out and killed, the others could hear its screams and
cries. According to the investigator, the first dog he saw
reacted as any dog would as he was taken out into the light—he
showed his trust by wagging his tail. The wagging stopped when
the butcher tied the dog up short with a metal wire so the dog
could hardly move. The dog began to panic and tried to escape.
But the butcher lifted the dog's left hind leg and stabbed him
in the groin area. Blood began to pour. The dog howled in pain
and struggled more. With every move, the wire cut into the
dog's neck. After a couple of minutes, the butcher began to
skin the dog.
As horrifying as this scene was, it got worse. An
investigator reported that he saw dogs being butchered who were
still conscious as the skinning began, and investigators
videotaped a German shepherd blinking his eye as he was being
skinned.
In China investigators saw some dogs killed for their fur
who appeared to be thick-coated mixed breeds, perhaps chow chow
mixes. But most of the dogs bred and killed for the fur trade
are German shepherds, the same courageous and noble breed that
leads the blind, rescues the victims of disasters, and patrols
our streets in partnership with police officers all across
America.
Cats
Cats fare no better than dogs in China. At a thriving fur
market 300 miles to the north of the city of Jinan, in the
province of Hebei, investigators located cat breeding farms and
a factory that processes cats into furs. According to people at
the fur market and the factory, the cats are killed by hanging.
Or they may be hung from a wire while water is poured down
their throats through a hose until they drown. Then a slit is
made in the cat's stomach, the skin is opened, and the fur is
pulled over the cat's head. The furriers say that the cats may
still be alive while they are being skinned. What's important
to the skinners is that the cat's skin is preserved as much as
possible in one piece to optimize its usefulness.
Factory workers sort cat furs by color. Investigators were
told that more than 100,000 cat furs were in storage at that
one factory alone.
Ironically, long-haired cats are kept as pets in China.
Short-haired cats, especially gray cats and orange tabby cats,
are kept outside, generally tethered by wire, and raised for
their pelts. Estimates are that about a half million cats are
killed each season, from October to February.
To read the Dog and Cat Protection Act of 2000, passed after
Congress learned of The HSUS's investigation into the dog and
cat fur trade,
download the PDF.
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