Stolen cats saved from sale as soup meat in daring raid
Chinese animal activists have rescued 300 stolen cats from a dealer who planned to sell the animals as soup meat, according to one of the participants in the raids.
The cats were found packed into bamboo cages in a freight yard in Shanghai from where they were due to be shipped to Guangdong province, Lai Xiaoyu told the Agence France-Presse news agency.
Three animals had died and some had broken legs but most have been returned to their owners, according to Lai.
“They had clearly been abused. They were squeezed into such small cages. Some of the cages contained more than 20 cats. Two of these cats had been dead for a while when we found them,” he said.
Lai said the cats were intended for use in a soup recipe known as ‘tiger vs. dragon’ made with cat meat and snake meat.
Some restaurants pay around 50 yuan ($7.3) per cat, according to the Shanghai Daily.
Police detained the cat dealer, Yang Baoguo, after he battled with activists as they tried to release the animals from their cages. But he was later released without charge.
“There is no law in China saying cats cannot be eaten,” police officer Ma Yong was quoted as saying. “Cats are not a protected animal.”
Yang is believed to have traded in cats for a decade, buying the animals from hunters who catch the animals in residential neighbourhoods at night.
Cat theft is difficult to prosecute in China because the animals are unlicenced, making it difficult for owners to prove a stolen cat belongs to them.
