Recently, CCTV Financial Channel exposed the chaotic underground pet black market in Rugao, Jiangsu Province. The hell-like scenes in the footage made pet parents heartbroken.
▲ CCTV Finance reported on overcrowded dog cages in the underground pet black market in Rugao

In the report, there was an underground pet trading market in Rugao without relevant license procedures. The selling price is around 200 to 500 yuan, and a pet vendor can sell 700 to 800 dogs in one night.
But behind such a huge transaction volume, the mortality rate of pets here is as high as more than 50%. Although the pet traders here know full well that they are sick cats and dogs, for them, they can buy and sell as long as the price is low.
Here, a sick Border Collie can be purchased for only 300. As long as it survives, it can be resold as a famous dog and earn thousands of dollars. You can write a birth certificate as you wish, and you can get a pet health and immunity certificate at any time for 100 yuan.
▲ In the CCTV financial report, pet traders revealed the low cost of raising pet dogs

This underground pet trading market is just the tip of the iceberg in this shady industry!
Underground pet breeding farms are even more shocking. Pet lovers can’t wait to hold them in their hands. The dogs and cats here eat dirty food and are crowded together. In the eyes of traders, they are just vehicles for making money. .
As soon as the report came out, it aroused widespread concern. The living environment of pets in the black market is worrying. The local administrative department lacks supervision of the underground black market, and relevant laws and regulations have no restrictions on illegal traders.
In this type of unregulated illegal pet trading black market, where do the cats and dogs traded come from?
▲ CCTV Finance reported on the underground pet trade in Rugao

In the report, the pets on the black market included dogs and cats purchased at low prices from other places, but most of them came from hundreds of thousands of people living in surrounding villages. Households' personal cat and dog breeding farms, these breeding farms are commonly known as "backyard breeding farms."
Backyard breeding is a general term for home-based pet breeding. But compared to pure pet breeding, the core of "backyard breeding" is the "breeding" of pets, and it is different from the selection and improvement of pet breeds and bloodlines in professional catteries and kennels.
Most backyard breeding is based on the principle of "one litter for each litter". When breeding pets, neither pedigree selection nor professional pet health care is carried out, resulting in a large number of impure bloodlines, poor health and even close relatives. Breeding pets produce.
This makes "backyard breeding" criticized by pet lovers and practitioners.
▲ CCTV FinanceThe underground pet market in the report

Not long before CCTV reported on the black market of pets in Rugao, an article caused an uproar among cat lovers, which revealed extremely bad pets (mainly cats). ) breeding chaos. In the article, a large number of cats and dogs with poor health or even obvious diseases were kept in smelly abandoned pig farms. They were fed rotten chicken intestines surrounded by flies every day and had no clean drinking water. There are no clean cages. Cats are trapped in cages stained with feces and cat hair every day, and the food bowls are next to dirty cat litter boxes.

▲ "Parents go inside to film: How cruel is the true face of a cat breeding farm? 》Shocking pictures in the article

In such a dirty and smelly environment, kittens are constantly being born. These so-called British short, fold-eared, and American short breed cats are mainly sold to pet stores and In pet hospitals, one usually sells for 500 to 1,000 yuan. In this harsh environment, the survival rate of kittens is not high, and breeders would rather let the kittens die than spend money to treat them. Adult cats do not live long either. In order to "make full use of" they are constantly bred and bred. Once they are no longer able to breed, they are taken to the flower and bird market and sold at low prices.
The tragic conditions of cats in breeding farms described in the article, as well as the shocking videos and pictures, make people who love animals feel sad and angry.
However, there is not just one breeding farm like this. There are a large number of unregulated pet breeding farms across the country that lack management and sanitary conditions.

The reasons behind the chaos in the pet industry

Behind the darkness of the pet industry, what is the reason behind such chaos?

Benefits of the pet industry

In recent years, more and more people are keeping pets in China, and the “pet economy” continues to heat up. In 2018, China's pet consumption market reached 170.8 billion yuan, of which the pet dog market size was 105.6 billion yuan and the pet cat market size was 65.2 billion yuan.
At present, a complete industrial chain has been formed in the pet industry, and capital is actively deployed in various pet industry segments. In the future, the Chinese pet industry market will further expand. With the gradual popularization of people's concept of keeping pets after the birth of the pet market, China's pet industry has gradually formed a scale after more than 20 years of development.
▲ Nowadays, some pet shops have been decorated very exquisitely

The market scale of my country’s pet industry continued to expand from 2012 to 2017. According to statistical data:
2012The market size of China's pet industry was only 33.7 billion yuan in 2017. In 2016, the market size of China's pet industry exceeded 100 billion yuan. By 2017, the market size of China's pet industry reached 147 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.5%.

As of 2018, the market size of China’s pet industry has reached 170.8 billion, with a growth rate of 27%. Among them, the pet dog market size is 105.6 billion yuan, and the pet cat market size is 65.2 billion yuan.
Qianzhan Industry Research Institute predicts that the market size of China’s pet industry will reach 200 billion yuan in 2020.

▲ China’s pet market size statistics and forecasts from 2012 to 2020

With the complete life cycle of a pet, a line has been formed in the pet industry The complete industrial chain includes a series of products and services such as breeding, training, food, medical care, beauty, health care, and insurance. The industrial chain can be divided into upstream pet breeding, pet food and supplies, and downstream services such as pet medical care, pet grooming, pet training, and pet insurance. The scale and compound growth rate of China's pet industry make it difficult for many other industries to match. This has attracted more people and capital to enter the industry, and inferior practitioners are also targeting the unlimited possibilities of the pet industry to enter in pursuit of profit.

Regulations are not yet complete and supervision needs to be strengthened urgently

At present, my country’s national laws related to (non-wild) animal breeding will come into effect on January 1, 2008 The "Animal Epidemic Prevention Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Animal Husbandry Law of the People's Republic of China" came into effect on July 1, 2006.
The two laws do not distinguish between food livestock and companion animals, and these two types of animals are very different in terms of breeding scale, safety and welfare, etc., and the mixed use of regulations will cause Caused a lot of problems.
This was reflected in the CCTV report. The reporter interviewed the local epidemic prevention station and administrative department and found many problems in the process of opening a pet breeding farm and going through regulatory procedures.

▲ We learned from CCTV financial reports that the access system for the livestock and poultry breeding industry in Rugao City is very strict

If you want to formally register a small-scale dog farm in Rugao City , it is impossible to handle it according to the current local regulations, because the breeding scale, site selection planning, inspection and quarantine cannot meet the handling requirements. So local breeders directly bypassed the management and reproduced in the form of home breeding. As long as no one reported it, there would be no law enforcement inspections. As for the management of the pet market, in the CCTV interview, it emerged that RugaoThis pet black market is a spontaneous market with no market entities and no business license, so the local market supervision department said it was a strange situation that it "cannot control".
This situation is not limited to the reported Rugao City. Most of the large and small flower and bird markets and pet markets across the country have spontaneous "market days".

▲ A pet market in Beijing

Not only pets such as cats and dogs, but also pets such as aquariums, reptiles, birds, etc. will appear in private cars in such spontaneous markets. They are waiting to be selected and sold in the trunk, on a simple trailer or even on the back seat of a bicycle. This type of market will occasionally be cleared because it blocks traffic or disturbs residents, but it will slowly resurgence after the "limelight" passes, just like the incurable "psoriasis" in the pet industry. Without strict market supervision, it is difficult to be cured.

People don’t know enough about pet keeping

In recent years, brands have added cat elements to their promotions. Countless popular products with cat elements have entered the market one after another. The popularity of “cat culture” It not only reflects the transformation of the center of pet culture from dogs to cats, but also promotes the development of the pet industry.
But when people shout "When can I get a cat?", few people will think that raising a pet is not just about enjoying the joy of owning it, but also spending a lot of time for it. ,money.
While people are crazy about the cute appearance of Fold-eared cats sitting upright, few people know (or care) that Fold-eared cats are born with hereditary bone diseases, and only "sitting" can relieve the pain in their spines.

▲ The sitting posture of folded-eared cats may look cute, but it is actually caused by hereditary bone diseases

Many breeds of cats and dogs have this kind of appearance due to breed breeding. Genetic defects lead to lifelong pain.
Some purebred cats and dogs are congenitally susceptible to diseases:
❶Polycystic kidney disease
Mostly occurs in cats with Persian cat ancestry, such as exotic shorthair cats, British shorthair cats, and Ragdoll cats and Scottish Fold cats, among others.

▲ Stages of polycystic kidney disease

Polycystic kidney disease is a chronic progressive disease that causes multiple cysts in the cortex and medulla of the kidneys. Most affected cats will show clinical signs of renal dysfunction in adulthood, including depression, anorexia, polydipsia and polyuria, and weight loss. Eventually, sick cats usually end upDied of irreversible kidney failure when he was 4 to 8 years old.

❷ Degenerative myelopathy
Degenerative myelopathy is a progressive neurological genetic disease that occurs in almost all dog breeds, among which Corgis, Boxers, Pitbulls Dogs and German shepherds have a higher incidence.


▲ Degenerative myelopathy causes dogs to completely lose feeling in their hind limbs

Affected dogs will only develop symptoms after they are 8 years old, and the initial symptoms are mainly gradual Sexual muscle atrophy and uncoordinated hind limb movements caused by neuropathy. As the disease progresses, the affected dog will become incontinent and can hardly maintain body balance. When the disease progresses to the final stage, symptoms of paralysis will spread from the hind limbs to the forelimbs, and manifest as generalized muscle atrophy. Degenerative myelopathy is an irreversible genetic disease that currently has no cure.

❸ Congenital cardiac hypertrophy
British shorthair, American shorthair, Ragdoll and Maine Coon cats are most prone to cardiovascular genetic diseases. The most common is cardiac hypertrophy. Once this disease occurs There is a risk of sudden death.
▲ Super cute puppets are actually particularly susceptible to cardiac hypertrophy

Some pet breeds become popular due to a certain opportunity, maybe it is a movie, maybe they just appear next to a certain star. Or even some kind of commercial hype, this breed may become "in" within a few years. In the eyes of some people, keeping such "popular" breeds may be a symbol of status and wealth. Just like if you don't have a cat now, you don't meet the standards of new successful people. But when these "varieties" become outdated, in the eyes of people who once chased the trend, those little lives that they once spent a lot of money to buy will become an eyesore. Just like those lives that were cheaply dealt with or even abandoned directly after the collapse of the Tibetan Mastiff market and the French bulldog market.
People like to chase new things. In the eyes of some people, a chinchilla, like a thick gold chain or a designer bag, is just a prop to show one's identity. In order to cater to people's vanity, countless little lives were roughly brought into this world, roughly selected, raised, and finally discarded at will.

Profit-only practitioners

In the process of development, every industry will attract new practitioners to enter because of its market prospects and profits. The same is true for the pet industry. We You can only see a few of them in news reports and articles. In all aspects of the pet industry, from breeding, medical care, food production, and supplies sales, there may be these black sheep mixed in. However, the industry supervision is not in place, allowing them toIn order to breed, the market demand for pets makes them do things that harm small animals, the pet industry, and kind-hearted people regardless of profit.
Although I am very reluctant to admit that the chaos in the pet industry appears to be caused by illegal operations by profit-seeking businessmen who take advantage of imperfect laws and inadequate market supervision, but if kind and ignorant people are The fanatical love for pets is also the driving force behind the hellish torture of these little animals.

What can we do to save pets?

Understand pet keeping correctly

Although we know that people’s vanity is difficult to change, we believe that most people who want to keep pets are kind-hearted at heart. If you can correctly understand that keeping pets is not just for showing off or owning before starting to raise pets, then the time spent raising pets will become a wonderful experience between the owner and the small animals.
A cute puppy or a cute cat. When people see it for the first time and have the idea of ​​“I want to keep a pet”, please calm down and think about it again. :
ロDo you have time to take care of it?
ロ Do you have enough patience to teach it to use the toilet correctly?
ロ Are you mentally strong enough to withstand the stress that could destroy your furniture?
ロ Do you have enough financial resources to make it healthy?
ロ When it gets sick, can you afford the high cost of treatment?
ロ Do you have a stable enough place to live that will prevent it from being displaced?
ロ Is your family able to accept its existence?

Raising a small animal is not like buying a vase, you just need to put it in your home. It is a living being, with the physiology of eating, drinking and urinating. Need, there is a psychological need to communicate with others.

Its value is not its variety or its popularity, but a companionship that will never give up. This precious life that will be with you for a lifetime deserves us to treat it well.
If people could seriously think about the responsibility of owning a life before impulsively raising them, they would be less likely to bring back a sick and wilted animal from the vendors on the overpass, in the tunnel, or in the spontaneous market. , there will be less of a poor little life that was once loved and eventually abandoned.

Choose healthy pets and regular sellers

Many people choose to buy pets at mobile pet markets or home breeders. A big reason is that they are "cheap". But many so-called "week dogs"o; "Chow cats" can be bought at a very cheap price, but it costs several times or even ten times more to treat them. Some of them still die after spending a lot of money on medical treatment.

▲ Pet treatment costs owners more money

After reading the reports and articles exposing the chaos, I believe it is not difficult for everyone to understand why these cheap cats and dogs Dogs get sick so easily. If you want to keep pets, you should still choose regular sellers and healthy pets. Our country currently does not specifically regulate pet breeding, and there are no relevant standards to implement. Therefore, if you want to buy a pet, it is recommended to conduct an on-site inspection of the breeding environment.
Certificates, epidemic prevention certificates, etc. are not as real as seeing them with your own eyes. Compared with a cat cage that looks like a pigsty and a clean breeding place where excrement, drinking water and food are regularly cleaned, of course the latter is more beneficial to cats. The foundation of a healthy life.

Legal regulations are urgently needed for the sale and breeding of pets

All parts of the country have promulgated the “strictest regulations in history” on dog breeding, and various breeds of pet dogs are on the blacklist of prohibited breeding. However, in the pet market, these Dog breeds can still be purchased.
If a pet is lost at home, people must go to the nearby pet market to look for it. Some people actually find their lost pet in the hands of traders. Why can these illegally acquired pets be openly sold in the pet market? sell?
When pet owners comply with regulations and reduce the time they take to walk their dogs, shorten the length of the leash, and reduce the number of breeds they can choose, the illegal black market for pets remains unsupervised. The absence of regulations regarding the keeping, breeding, and sale of pets has created a breeding ground for profit-seeking unscrupulous traders to make a fortune. Only by promulgating laws and regulations to regulate the industry, and establishing corresponding industry self-discipline in the pet industry, in conjunction with standardized pet breeding, and by raising the market entry threshold for the pet industry, can we stop those unscrupulous breeders and traders who regard animal life as trivial and provide for these The heart-warming little animals seek a safe and healthy living environment.

Finally, the editor has a beautiful wish. If one day the slogan "no buying and selling, no harm" finally comes true, our country will be like Germany where pets are not allowed to be sold and can only be adopted. Or buy it from a regular breeding base, and those dark flies that come for profit will disappear without a trace.