Pet Peeves in China

Chinese pet owners worry about their animals, just as American pet lovers do. But the U.S. news of American dogs and cats dying after eating tainted food made few waves here—even though the suspect ingredient is believed to be melamine in wheat gluten manufactured by the China-based Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd.  When my husband and I brought Maomao the cat to the vet for routine shots last week, we asked whether Chinese pet food—possibly using the same contaminants—had caused any animal deaths here. To our relief, the British vet hadn’t heard of any cases. And Maomao’s food was imported from France, so it was probably OK. The French know a thing or two about food.

Here in China, animals do fall victim to bad pet food—and a lot worse. Such as pets as food, which animal lovers apparently discovered earlier this year at a market in Tianjin. Many cats sold in the Hebei District pet market are bought by entrepreneurs who ship them to the southern province of Guangdong, where the felines wind up as restaurant fare. (Guangdong residents are notorious for eating “anything with four legs, except for the kitchen table,” as a proverb goes. One popular dish of sautéed snake and cat is called “the dragon battling the tiger.”)

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Tagged as: Animals, Cats, China, Food, Pet Food, Pet Owners, Pets, Restaurants, Snakes, Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd.