14 DAY TRIAL // Police officers in China have busted a gang whose members appear to have been in the business of killing cats, skinning them and then selling them to restaurants as rabbits.
The gang's “headquarters” was a warehouse in the city of Huai'an in eastern China, information shared with the public says.
By the looks of it, the gang was operating for more than a year when they were caught, and had been quite prolific.
According to Daily Mail, they did not just develop a system to purchase the stray cats that they needed to keep their business running for merely £1 (€1.18 / $1.59 ) a piece, but had also set the basis of a distribution network that allowed them to deliver their merchandise to several markets and diners across the country.
When questioned by police officers, people living close to the warehouse admitted to seeing a lorry arriving at and then leaving the warehouse at least two or three times per week.
The same source tells us that, when Chinese officials finally decided to investigate this issue and carried out a raid bright and early in the morning, at around 4.30 a.m., they found 60 felines locked away in cages.
It goes without saying that the conditions they were living in were horrific, to say the least.
30 dead cats were also found in a freezer inside the warehouse. One can only assume these felines were waiting to be transported to markets and restaurants.
Several suspects have been arrested, and an investigation is ongoing.
This incident is not the first of its kind to have been reported in China. Thus, late last year, animal rights activists and police officers in this country saved some 500 cats that were on the verge of being turned into more-or-less savory dishes.
These felines were discovered in tiny cages in the back of a truck. In order to save the felines, police officers had to buy them from the truck driver. They paid him ₤350 (€436 / $565).