This "Animal Lover" Took In Stray Cats Only To Slaughter And Sell Them As Rabbit Meat
Huang Fuping's neighbours would regularly bring strays to him without knowing that he had been operating a slaughterhouse for 30 years.
A supposed animal lover who said he was looking after stray cats in his house was actually butchering them and selling them to restaurants as "rabbit meat"
The man in question, Huang Fuping from Chengdu sold the dead cats as rabbits to meat vendors in rural China for 20 yuan per kilogramme (RM12)
An investigation was carried out by the authorities and relevant departments after they received multiple tips from the public
According to Chengdu Business Daily, Huang was known as a lover of felines around the neighbourhood. People would drop strays at his home, assuming that he would take them in and treat the cats as their own. He had claimed to put the cats in rooms with 24-hour air-conditioning.
Little did they know, he would then load most of the strays into his vehicle and drive to a shady warehouse in the countryside.
Disturbing images showed dozens of cats killed, frozen, and even decapitated at the man's warehouse
"After receiving information, relevant departments teamed up with the authorities and closed down the cat slaughterhouse which had been running for 30 years," said Chengdu Aizhijia Animal Rescue Centre, a local NGO against animal cruelty.
According to reports, Huang probably slaughtered around 100 cats a day
The live animals were kept in small cages no taller than 20 centimetres (7.8 inches), the report claimed.
He would then drown the cats before skinning them.
Due to restrictions in Chengdu for selling exotic meat, Huang was forced to sell to buyers and restaurants outside the city, mostly advertising the meat as rabbit meat
He said his customers weren't able to distinguish the differences between cat and rabbit meat, especially when the meat is ground up.
Most of his meat wholesalers came from southern China, such as Guangxi Province, where the controversial annual Yulin dog meat festival is held.
When authorities raided his warehouse, Huang was caught in the act as he was killing the animals
Chengdu Business Daily reported that officials seized 49 live cats and around one tonne of feline carcases.
Huang has been put into police custody, but it's unclear what will happen to him.
Do note that China doesn't have any laws against torturing animals, so he could walk away with just a fine.