UPDATE:  JANUARY 17, 2010    A TRUCKLOAD OF 1000 CATS, MANY MOST LIKELY BELOVED PETS OF HEARTBROKEN OWNERS, HAVE PASSED THROUGH TO THE BUTCHERS AND THE RESTAURANTS BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF INTEREST AND COOPERATION FROM THE POLICE AND THE GOVERNMENT.  PLEASE GET AS MANY SIGNATURES AS YOU CAN FOR THIS PETITION.  THANKS.

 

"Dear Friend, It is very nice of you to care for our poor little cats in China. They are terribly tortured and slaughtered in Guangdong Province, China. All these cats stolen around the countryare shipped to Guangdong, where there are a great number of companion animals and wildlife are slaughtered to serve for some evil people's disgusting appetite. (sic). Lesson has not been learnt by them after Sars bursted out from this place 6 years ago. Something has to be done to stop these brutal and blood-thirsty behaviors. I would like to ask you for your helpto spread the message to the public in western world. Please write to the Chinese high authority and your local Chinese embosser (sic) urging Chinese  government to look into this issue seriously. I thank you with my whole heart for your kind support. The support from good people outside China greatly encourages us.  With my very best wishes, (private).  Please look at http://www.people4chineseanimals.org/Shanghai_Cats.html

Shanghai - August 5, 2009 - One of the biggest cat rescues.  Among (sic) 2000 cats have been rescued near Shanghai.  From earily morning of August the 5th, to the evening of the 6th, after more than 30 hours of the protest, among 2000 cats got rescued near Shanghai. 

Another letter comes from a cat rescue group and a lovely girl we'll call "Lee" who lives in Guangzhou City, where the "evil people eat the cats everyday.  She's been speaking out for our poor cats who can not defending for themselves. 

"Thank you very much indeed for your help to our cats rescuer campaign in China. ......it is a heartbreak for me to learn the cruelty on cats in my province. I have been trying my every effort to do something to end it. Your support is very important for us not only financially but also spiritually. Since we are blocked from the outside world, not able to use internet access to many international website, thanks to our loving friend Joy's dedication on helping us with lots translation and correspondence, this messages about cats rescuer can spread out to good people outside China.  TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR THE PUBLIC IN THE WESTERN WORLD TO UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION.  I HAVE PREPARED SOME Q & A FOR YOUR REFERENCE.

1. Is it a tradition or culture for Chinese to eat cats and dogs?   Answer: No. It is nothing to do with culture and tradition. Even in Guangdong Province, surveys have shown that a majority people are against eating cats.

2. Why you just rescuer (sic) cats but not cows, pigs and other animals? Answer: Cats are traditional companion animals and are closer to human members. It is not surprise that people have more affection on these animals. The gets get tortured and slaughtered are stolen from their owners or carers by cat nappers. The cats are not fed to sold not to mention to be slaughtered. The owners and carers are so heart-broken (sic).  Those who eat cats are leartless and blood-thirsty, without any mercy to animals and other people alike!

3. Why single out Guangdong province? Answer: Guangdong is the main area where these horrible cruelties on cats happen. Cats are stolen from all around the country and shipped to Guangdong. It is the sole place in the country where some people eat cats. The local government seem to be so indifferent get no notice to people's protest.

         GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA     GOVERNOR:  HUANG HUAHUA

My city Guangzehou City, which claims to be the most civilized and developed city in southern China, and which will host the 2010 Asian Sports Games, is exactly the place where SARS first burst out 6 years ago. Lesson has not been learnt by public health safety to serve for their disgusting appetite.

In Shanghai and many other cities where the cats come from, many people are trying to stop the stealing and shipping of cats. They are the animals right advocates and cat carers who have lost their beloved cats. Many people used to feed the cats in their houses or their local areas, but they found that cats in their area have been disappearing radidly. Actually the cats are stolen by evil people and shipped to the province of Guangdong where they end their lives miserably and leave their dear owners heart-broken (sic). These evil cat nappers take advantage of an absence of any law to protect animals and operate without fear of prosecution. They pay petty thieves to s teel (sic) cats in their neighbourhoods. The thieves usually use a trap with a bird on top of it to attract cats. Once the cat enters the trap out of curiousity, it can't escape.

Recently some determined, caring people in Shanghai city have joined together to establish a team, that is SHANGHAI CATS' PROTECTION TEAM. They are fighting against the criminals on their own due to the lack of legislation for animal protection. THEY HAVE WON SEVERAL FANTASTIC BATTLES ON AUGUST 5, AUG 14,AUG 16 AND AUG 19,SEP21 AND NOV2. We are so proud of theses brave fighters, who, physically over and over again fighting EXTREMELY HARD BATTLES, SACRIFICING THEIR OWN TIME, COMFORT AND PERSONAL SAFETY, EVEN RISKING THEIR LIVES TO FIGHT THIS EVIL. We thank them for their heroic action and thanks them for taking action on behalf of all us animal lovers in China who, like yourselves, never tolerate cruelty to animals and will never stop pursuing the virtue of love and respect for all life forms on our beautiful, but often ugly, planet. 

SHANGHAI CATS' PROTECTION TEAM was formed by volunteers. Among them are mostly senior and retired citizens, civil workers, freelancers, etc. their enemy, on the other handare the evil cat nappers-criminal gangs who have committed such crimes in the past. The brave team have won several victories and saved THOUSANDS OF CATS. However recently the cat nappers have become more  and more insane and situation is dangerous for our activists. On Nov2, 2009 the insane  criminals even attacked the cat lovers violently in front of the police.

However their violence and intimidation can never stop our brave animal lovers. What drives these caring people is love, compassion and the power  of good prevailing over evil.

I WOULD LIKE TO ASK FOR YOUR HELP TO SPREAD THIS MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC. KINDLY PLEASE WRITE TO THE CHINESE HIGH AUTHORITY AND YOUR LOCAL CHINESE EMBASSY URING CHINESE GOVERNMENT TO LOOK IN THIS ISSUE SERIOUSLY AND STOP THIS TERRIBLE CRUELTY HAPPENING IN GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA.

Several brave lost cat owners were lying down in front of the truck to stop the cat-nappers from driving the trucks away. They said: "If you drive the cats away, then roll over our bodies first". That was a hard protest. In another confrontation animal protection volunteers pursued (all from Shanghai,Suzhou and Zhejiang Province) and successfully transferred the cat cages (800 cats) down from the truck which was successfully stopped by animal lovers at the highway of Changshou City.

After long hours of negotiations between the Changshou Police, cat lovers and the cat-nappers, donations of 15000 RMB from the Authority of Bixi County in Changshou finally helped the rescuers buy 800 cats from the cat-nappers.

Another 1000 cats were rescued earlier on the evening of August 5th at Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province, also not far from Shanghai. All together 2000 cats got rescued from 2 cat-napper trucks which were on the way down to the South, Guangdong Province restaurants.

And still another truck with 1000 cats that has been released at Jiaxing by the local police and managed to get away before the cat rescurers arrived.

WE URGENTLY CALL ON THE ANIMAL PROTECTION LAW TO PROTECT OUR POOR FOUR LEGGED FRIENDS IN CHINA!

Many thanks and great appreciations to: 

SHANGHAI CATS PROTECTION TEAM, SHANGHAI PET UNION, SUZHOU SMALL ANIMAL PROTECTION ASSN AND ZHEJIANG ANIMAL PROTECTION ASSN.

TIANJIN CATS HOPE IS ALSO A DEDICATED GROUP OF PEOPLE DETERMINED TO SAVE CATS FROM THE HORRIBLE FATE OF BEING SKINNED ALIVE AFTER BEEN THROWN ON THE GROUND IN A CROWDED CRATE....BOILED ALIVE.....WHO WOULD THINK ANYONE COULD BE THAT CRUEL.  YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP.

You can write to Jygao6@hotmail.com  for English translation.  Also for English translation and if you're interested in making a donation, please write to  The Misha Foundation (mishafoundation@msn.com) or you can go to:  www.antifursociety.org.   Out of the darkness and hopelessness have come many rescuers who are incredible people - brave, determined and caring, whose only concern is to save these poor creatures from hunger, pain, and torture.  And from around the world, many wonderful people have shown kindness, love, support and concern. 

There is terrible cruelty for homeless cats who will eventually end up at the butcher's.  People kick these cats on the street and abuse them to the point of death.  The kindness and risks shown by the Rescue Organizations cannot be put into words.   

When sending a letter to the targeted people we should keep these email addresses out of the picture for safety's sake. Please keep that in mind. "Lee" was just a pseudonym I used.

 MORE NEWS -  recent - DECEMBER 18, 2009     ADDENDUM

In the afternoon of Dec the 18th, the cat rescuers got a text message about the track of a cat nappers' truck, and they had themselves ready to depart at any time.

 At 10:00pm, two cars with ten cat rescuers and one reporter from Beijing joined other cat rescuers from the city of Wuxi (a city close to Shanghai).

At 11:20pm, they had the cat-nappers truck stopped at Jiaxin city in the Zhejiang Province (not far from Shanghai) and called the local police.

After midnight, at 1:00 am on Dec the 19th, they managed to get the truck down to the local police station called: ‘Wang Jiang Jing Police Station' with the police officers' help.  There were 30 cages containing around 600 cats with 3 cat-nappers and 2 truck drivers. 

At 2:00am, the police decided they will make a decision on what to do after when the morning shift starts.  The rescuers from Shanghai and Wuxi had to stay with the truck for the whole night, where the temperature was below 0 degrees and frost was on the ground.

At 9:00am, the rescuers were all there waiting for the police to make their decision about the cat nappers. During the wait rescuers discovered that some cats had died in the cage over night. Two cat-nappers went inside the police station and after a short while they emerged and announced their decision. The police officers saw that the cat-nappers have a certificate of quarantine, and legal paperwork. Rescuers tried explaining to the police that the certificates were fake, but the police maintained that if the rescuers couldn't prove that the certificates were fake, then the truck will be released to the cat-nappers.

At 10am, the rescuers, being upset about the police officers' unfair attitude, had posters made saying "Down Cat-nappers! Return Our Cats!" These were hung on their cars. Mr. Xu Yixiang, the vice director of the Wang Jiang Jing Police Station, said that the citizens' property is under protection, so the cat-nappers are protected under the law because the cats belong to them. Other police officers rudely asked the cat rescuers if they had any other jobs to do other than play with cats.

 

At 12:00pm, Mr. Shen, the director of the Wang Jiang Jing Police Station, gave the police officers the order to destroy the rescuers' protest posters. Both the police and the rescuers had small fights, and one of the police officers even tore the clothing of a rescuer. At this, Mr. Shen shouted, "Don't make any more trouble, I HAVE A GUN!" At12:30pm, Suzhou rescuers came to support the other rescuers, and five rescuers' cars blocked the access for the truck to leave.

At 1:00pm, the police officers, under pressure, agreed to negotiate with the rescuers. Three representatives from Shanghai, Wuxi and Suzhou went into Director Shen's office to discuss the problem. At the same time, one rescuer was sent to Zhen Jiang (also near Shanghai) to report the situation and to find a way to prove that the cat-nappers' certificate was fake. Mr. Shen demanded that the rescuers prove the certificate of quarantine fake by 3:00pm, or the truck will be released to the cat-nappers. At 2:00pm, after several ways of trying to show that the certificate was fake failed, the rescuers had to give up the negotiation with Mr. Shen.  Mr. Shen then gave the rescuers two choices: to have the truck transported out of Jiaxin by the police, or to have 200 of the cats released to rescuers.

The rescuers from the three rescues groups (Shanghai, Wuxi, Suzhou), refused to choose, and declared that they will fight to the death and not abandon even one cat.  To prepare for the worst situation, the rescuers called for more help, and split the rescuers, with some going to the access of the Jiaxin highway and with some staying at the police station.

At 4:00pm, more police arrived. There were more than ten police officers that arrived that were specialised and fully armed. The rescuers were in a bad situation, but some still went and lay underneath the cat-nappers' truck to prevent it from moving.

At 4:30pm, at Mr. Shen's order, the police surrounded the rescuers and the truck and dragged the rescuers out from under the truck one by one.  When the access was all clear, the cat-nappers returned to their truck and left towards the highway.

At 5:00pm, Mr. Shen said that the rescuers will be allowed to leave half an hour after the truck had left.  However, he soon changed his mind, and asked for all the rescuers to show their IDs so that they can be recorded for the investigation, which resulted in the rescuers staying there even longer.  Mr. Shen even had two of the front rescuers arrested for affecting their official business.  After all of this, the rescuers could finally leave to join the rescue over the highway .

At 6:30pm, all the rescuers joined ASAP to contact the two cars that were waiting over at the highway access, and knowing that the truck was stopped successfully at the toll pay highway station, they called the police in the Jiangsu Province.

At 7:00pm, the rescuers went to the Wu Jiang Police Station in the Jiangsu province, and called the Jiangsu Agriculture Bureau in hopes that the police officers there will release the cats. At the same time, more rescuers from Shanghai arrived, and the local police officers showed mercy to the rescuers and had the truck transported to the police station.

At 7:30pm, after negotiations with the rescuers and the cat-nappers, the cat-nappers were forced to have all 600 cats released to rescuers. We won! The rescuers had an urgent meeting, and decided that the 600 cats will be released to the Wuxi Cat Rescuer Group. At around 1:00 of Dec the 20th, 30 cages containing the rescued cats were safely back in Wuxi, and the cats were released to chosen living areas in Wuxi. At 4:00am, the Shanghai cat rescuers finally returned to Shanghai for a well deserved rest.  

We won!