Chinese police, pet lovers save over 800 cats from dinner table
BEIJING. November 25. KAZINFORM Chinese police and animal rights activists rescued more than 800 cats scheduled to be listed on restaurant menus in the country, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.
The cats in iron cages were found in a store in northern China's Tianjin municipality.
The cats were either picked up from the streets or stolen from their owners. They were to be sold to restaurants in China's southern Guangdong province at the price of 10 yuan (some $1.5) per cat.
Animal rights activists spent the night outside the store, which has a license to sell flowers, birds, fish and worms, to ensure the cats were not smuggled away behind their backs. They said the store had been trading cats for the last six months.
The trader was unable to provide any receipts to prove purchase of the 800 cats.
It took the volunteers 24 hours to convince the trader to free the cats after intervention from the police Tuesday night, Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.