The Brutal Tragedy Behind Cute Cats

Most owners don’t know where their pet comes from. This allows the inhumane breeding and trade in China to thrive without being controlled.

When deciding to buy a cat in July, Yuanzi (26 years old, not her real name) didn’t spend much time researching but simply went to the Taobao e-commerce site of his choice.

After some consideration, the female graduate student selected the Persian cat from a leading cat farm in Shanghai, so she trusted it and paid 8,500 yuan ($1,250).

However, when the animal was sent a few days later, Yuanzi quickly realized something was wrong. The cat appeared weak and started vomiting and diarrhea. Within 3 days, she had to hospitalize him for infectious enteritis. Five days later, the cat did not survive.

The sadness of the loss quickly turns to horror as Yuanzi begins to learn the reason behind the cat’s condition. She discovered many videos on social media showing the inhumane conditions inside the animal husbandry industry in China.

In one clip, dozens of cats – almost all of them injured – are herded into a small, dingy room. In another clip, the image of a cat being brutally delivered by cesarean section, its cry haunted her for days.

*“My gut instinct told me that my cat came from a ‘cat workshop’ disguised as a ranch,”* she shared.


Many pet owners in China have had similar experiences. Substandard livestock facilities in this country are thriving, profiting through captivity in appalling conditions due to a lack of oversight and management.

Some female cats spend their entire lives in cages. They used stimulants to increase the reproductive performance of cats – such workshops are the source for 80% of pet shops in China!!!.

According to a 2019 report from research firm Leadleo, pet stores are also the largest selling channel of the Chinese pet industry, accounting for more than 35% of total sales.

In August 2021, the RHR Shanghai group found 33 Chartreux cats abandoned at a non-working public school. All were sick, the adult cats weigh