食肉処理前の猫１５０匹を保護、大半がペットか　中国

【北京ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国東部で、食肉処理場に運ばれる予定だった猫約１５０匹が警察に保護された。国際動物愛護団体が３０日、発表した。（写真は中国・山東省済南で保護された猫。動物愛護団体Ｖｓｈｉｎｅおよびヒューメイン・ソサエティー・インターナショナル＜ＨＳＩ＞提供）
　ヒューメイン・ソサエティー・インターナショナル（ＨＳＩ）によると、山東省済南市警察が、さびたケージに押し込められている多数の猫を発見した。
　地元の動物愛護活動家は、犯罪組織がかごの中にスズメを入れておき、猫が中に入ると遠隔操作で扉を閉めるという手法で捕獲していたと話している。
　ＨＳＩは、今回救出された猫の大半がペットとして飼われていたとみており、現地のシェルターに移送されたと説明した。
　現場ではまた、生きたスズメ３１羽も見つかり、自然に返された。スズメは中国では保護対象となっている。
　中国には動物虐待防止法はないものの、事件への関与者は、スズメの捕獲のほか、窃盗や動物感染症防止法違反などで処罰される可能性がある。
　ＨＳＩによると、中国では年間約１０００万匹の犬と約４００万匹の猫が消費されている。
　犬猫の肉は中国の一部の地域で珍味と見なされ、ペット窃盗が組織的に行われるほど、その食肉取引は高い利益が見込めるものとなっている。ただしペットを飼う人が増えるにつれ、犬猫食は減少傾向にある。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/09/01-22:04）

Nearly 150 cats bound for slaughterhouses have been rescued by police in eastern China, an international animal welfare organisation said.
The animals were crammed into rusty cages when they were found by police in the eastern city of Jinan in Shandong province, Humane Society International (HSI) said in a statement Tuesday.
A gang placed sparrows in cages as bait and used a remote control to shut the traps as soon as each cat entered, an activist with local animal rights group VShine said.
It was shocking to see the state they were in, many of them emaciated and crying out, an activist, who only offered their last name Huang, said in a statement to HSI.
Our discovery of dozens of live sparrows used as bait to lure the cats was also a big shock.
Most of the rescued felines are believed to have been household pets and have been sent to local animal shelters, the statement added.
Activists also found 31 sparrows -- a protected species in China -- at the scene and released them back into the wild.
China has no animal cruelty prevention laws, but the suspects could face penalties for hunting the birds, property theft and for violations of animal epidemic prevention rules.
Around 10 million dogs and four million cats are killed for human consumption each year in China, according to HSI.
Dog and cat meat is considered a delicacy in some parts of China, and the trade in their flesh remains lucrative enough to spur criminal gangs to steal pets, though the habit has seen a steady decline as pet ownership has risen.
Every June, the city of Yulin in southern China hosts a dog meat festival, where live canines and cats are sold for eating.
The tradition of eating dogs and cats in south China's Guangdong and Guangxi provinces dates back thousands of years.
These are China's two main cat meat eating hotspots, Dr Peter Li, HSI China policy specialist, said in a statement.
Throughout the rest of mainland China, cat meat is not part of the food culture at all.
The Covid-19 outbreak appears to have further reduced the appetite for cat and dog meat, after the disease was linked to a market in the central city of Wuhan selling live animals for food.
China banned the consumption and trade of wildlife in 2020.
The Guangdong cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai banned the consumption of dogs and cats in April that year, becoming the first cities in China to do so.