5,000 Dead Cats, Dogs & Rabbits Found in Shipping Boxes That Were Allegedly People’s Online Purchases

Cats are our sacred pets over at Goody Feed. They play with us whenever they’re free.

Imagine our horror when the news about more than 5,000 pets found dead in shipping boxes broke.

The pets which lost their lives included rabbits, guinea pigs, cats and dogs.

Pets Found in Shipping Boxes with Breathing Holes

These pets were found at the Dongxing logistics station in Henan’s Luohe City. They were kept in plastic or metal cages that were wrapped in cardboard boxes with breathing holes.

According to CBS news, the pets had been left in the boxes without food or water for about a week before they were discovered.

Many of them had died either due to suffocation, starvation or dehydration when they were found.

When animal welfare group, Utopia, reached the scene on 22 September, they only managed to rescue a small number of pets.

Sister Hua, the founder of Utopia said, “The station was cluttered with express boxes with thousands of animals that had already died, and the entire place reeks of rotting bodies.”

Dan, a representative from Utopia, told Globaltimes.cn that they rescued about 50 cats and dogs, as well as 200 rabbits.

The volunteers buried some of the dead animals using an excavator, three metres underground in farmlands.

For animals which were rescued by the animal welfare group, those that were healthy were adopted by local families, while those which were sick were sent to the vet for treatment.

Pets Allegedly Being Ordered Online; Supposed to be Shipped across China

According to CBS news, the animals were most likely bought online as pets. They were left stranded at the logistics station due to a delayed collection.

The logistics company might have refused to sign off the shipment due to it violating transport laws.

When asked about this incident, the said logistics company, Yunda, mentioned that they were not aware of the incident.

However, the company’s employees had confirmed that they allow live animals to be transported in boxes with holes.

Under the Chinese law, it is illegal to ship live animals in ordinary packaging.

Rescued another 500 animals in Second Shipment

Volunteers from Utopia managed to track down a second shipment, which was to a nearby village of Dameng.

They rescued about 500 animals during this 13-hour mission. However, the other half was already dead.

Sister Hua said, “It’s so terrifying to have those live animals transported that way, and even ending up dead.”

She added, “Go for adoption instead of illegal buying and shipping of animals.”

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