Unfortunately, animals rights aren’t equally respected in all parts of the world, and China is one area where animal rights are rather limited. A popular and extremely disturbing trend has recently shown up in the country that’s truly heart-aching.
Small live animals are being trapped and sealed inside of a small keychain.
The number of animals that undergo such a horrifying experience is shockingly high. Chinese street vendors put all kinds of animals into keychains and small phone charms, such as live fish, lizards, turtles, and other amphibians. When converted into US dollars, one of those keychains costs around $1.50 each.
They’re barely alive when they’re put into the extremely small plastic bags with colored water, and they only have enough oxygen for a day, at most.
The vendors do claim, however, that the bags are full of crystallized oxygen and plenty of nutrients to keep the animals alive for a longer period, but that’s completely bogus and a downright terrible excuse.
Most of these animals pass away within 24 hours after they’re sold like a throwaway souvenir.
David Neale, the animal welfare director of the Animals Asia organization, wants to spread awareness about this horrific trend and hopes that the Chinese vendors will put an end to it soon.
“Lack of food and diminishing oxygen concentrations within both the water and the small amount of air in these plastic pouches will cause the animals to die in a relatively short period of time after the pouches are sealed,” he said to CNN.
The vendors do sometimes instruct their buyers to release the animals in a timely fashion so that they wouldn’t suffocate – but they usually only have a couple of hours to live and there’s no way of knowing whether or not there’s still enough oxygen left.
To make things worse, the vendors are actually encouraging to microwave and eat it.
Soft-shell turtles are a particularly popular ingredient in Chinese dishes, meaning these live turtles in a small plastic bag don’t only ‘serve’ as decoration, but as a food item as well. A horrifying thought.
Animal rights activists are now also warning people who purchase these plastic bags with live animals because they could carry dangerous diseases such as salmonella.
“Individuals should also be aware of the potential human health risks associated with being in close contact with animals such as turtles. Turtles frequently carry salmonella bacteria that can cause serious illness,” David Neale added.
Disturbingly, this popular trend is a hundred percent legal.
There is no national animal protection law (that’s being enacted) across the country, and acts of cruelty against animals generally aren’t prosecuted or punished. Animal activists now hope that the hefty controversy surrounding these bagged animals could finally make a difference.
“If a national animal protection law was enacted in China, such acts of cruelty could be prevented, and those who persist in causing harm and suffering to animals within their care could be prosecuted.”
An online petition has been created urging the Chinese government to restrict and prohibit the sales of these completely inhumane amulets and keychains containing live animals.
The Avaaz petition has been made back in 2013 but is still going strong. More than one million people have signed the online petition, and the organization hopes that they’ll reach the amount of 1,500,000 signatures soon.
Putting live animals inside these small plastic bags practically results in a death sentence for them, who should be treated with respect and compassion instead. We can only hope that one day, the Chinese government realizes this too and finally starts enforcing animal welfare laws.
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