500 Cats Destined to be Slaughtered for Food Have Been Saved by Chinese Police

500 cats are getting a second chance at life thanks to some caring police officers in China.

Police officers in China just arrested a man who planned to sell the felines to different restaurants around China for their meat. According to reports, the man, identified as Sun, had been stealing the cats and selling them where he could. The man was allegedly doing business near the city of Jiujiang.

The Chinese police found out about the cat-stealing man after a tip from a man named Yang. Yang’s cat had been nursing five small kittens when he realized that she had been stolen.

After the tip, the Chinese police found Sun hiding cats in crammed cages. The man was forcing seven or eight cats into one cage, creating a less than ideal living situation. According to a police report, many of the cats were in “poor health.”

“Sun used sparrows in cages as bait, setting traps to catch the cats,” a policeman handling the case told the South China Morning Post. “Some of these cats were pets, others were just street cats. Each cat could be sold for up to 30 yuan (US$4.40).”

Animal trafficking and selling of illegal animals has been a long standing problem in China and other countries around Asia. In 2010, the government tried to propose a law that would make it illegal to sell animals for food reasons. However, many meat vendors shared a different opinion, citing that it would hurt business.

“The dogs you raise at home, you shouldn’t eat,” a butcher named Pan told CNN. “The kind raised for eating, we can eat those.”

It is currently illegal to eat cats and dogs in Taiwan. For owning, selling, buying, or eating the meat, people could face up to an $8,100 fine. Lawbreakers could also face up to a $65,000 fine and two years in prison for different animal cruelty acts.

This legislation has not been implemented in other Asian countries.

(H/T Newsweek)