China's latest trend of mystery 'blind boxes' leads to deaths of puppies and kittens
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Selling live pets through courier is illegal in China, however, that does not seem to stop the locals from playing with the lives of animals
A new trend has started in China which has led to the deaths of animals and birds and has received immense backlash from social media users and animal welfare groups.
Known as 'blind box' pets, in this new trend live pets are sold packed in mystery "blind boxes". People in China are ordering live and "cute" pets online through various listings. These pets are then packed in mystery “blind boxes” and sent to the buyer’s address in a box.
"The moment many buyers open the box hoping for a live creature, they actually find an animal that's died of suffocation, starvation, cold or heat," a Twitter post explained the deadly side of this trend.
This exploitation of animals was brought to notice when a group of volunteers in the southwestern city of Chengdu found nearly 160 baby animals packed in crates on Monday night. Many of these animals were already dead by the time they were found and rescued.
When the courier was found, the crate was full of "screams of puppies and kittens", an animal rescue centre said.
"If the door is closed then there is no air circulation at all, so they can only be suffocated!," the centre explained.
Social media took upon themselves to unravel these "mystery blind boxes" and discovered that many people are offering to buy live pets online by posting advertisements such as "very cute purebreed cats and dogs" which are available as cheap as $1.50 (9.9RMB).
Selling live pets through courier is illegal in China, however, that does not seem to stop the locals from playing with the lives of animals.
"This is not a 'cute' novelty, nor is it a toy that you can throw away once you're bored. Pet blind boxes make me feel that this society is even more terrifying and crazy," a social media user wrote.