5,000 Pets Dead in Cages, Stranded a Week With No Water or Food at Chinese Depot

In China, Henan Province, around 5000 pets died which were placed inside cardboard boxes in a shipping depot. The pets were lying there forgotten.

It happened in Central China last week in an unidentified shipping depot. It was reported by CBS News that a few hundred were saved from dying. Sources say that it might have been a massive mistake in the supply chain causing the animal deaths, which are products of a breeding industry, reported Meaww.

An animal rescue group based in Henan said there will be an inquiry into why the mishap occurred.

The name of the animal rescue organization is Utopia, their founder Sister Hua talked to CBS News about the unfortunate incident. Saying the station was full of the boxes containing the majority of the animals that perished. It was mentioned that the place smelt of decaying bodies inside the boxes at a ten-fold.

Anyone who likes cute and cuddly animals would have been very shocked. Sources say that animals that died were rabbits, guinea pigs, dogs, and cats that were placed inside cages of metal or plastic, with breathing holes punched through the box. All of the pets were without water or food for about a week because of neglect. The boxes were found in the Dongxing Logistics station in Henan's Luohe city.

Regretfully, Hua remarked that it was suffocation, dehydration, and starvation that killed the domestic animals.

Also read: Newborn Mauled and Killed by Big Family Dog, Parents Charged With Manslaughter and Negligence

Chinese state law does not allow shipping of live animals through shipping containers. The animals were purchased online by buyers as pets for their kids. However,it got stuck because the company which was supposed to receive and deliver it had problems. They did not want to collect because of violations against transporting rules, said Hua.

This tragedy is caused by reasons for applying the rules correctly. Misinformation and other factors led to the catastrophe, adding that buyers and sellers share faults too. If everything is done right, the 5,000 animals would not have died.

In the center of the pet holocaust controversy is the Yun shipping firm, they gave out their side about the grim incident. Representatives of the company say that the firm was not aware of the snafu, though their staffs did admit that live animals were in the boxes with holes to breathe, said Global Times.

Hua with her 20 companions was able to save 200 rabbits, and 50 pooches and cats from their cages. They raced to get them out. Animals that could be saved were sent to the vet for treatment. But the rest were collected and disposed of to prevent any infections spreading. Animals who survived got adopted on the spot, according to sources.

Hua and her group after the activity in Luohe, sprang to action and saved 1000 animals that were going to Danang village. It was another 13-hours for them to save more animals. But on another site, many animals died again. She said it was not safe with so many transported with COVID-19. She encouraged adopting so 5,000 dead pets won't die again.