The coast guard of Taiwan found 154 cats in a smuggling bust after intercepting a fishing vessel from China. The authorities recently decided to euthanize all cats and there has been outrage over how they handled the case.

After searching the crew for Covid, the lifeguards found 62 cages containing cats. Russian Blue, Ragdoll, Persian American Shorthair, and British Shorthair breeds are some of the breeds found on the boat. The cats were estimated to be valued at about $358,000 US. The cats were found the previous Thursday, and by Saturday had all been euthanized without further consideration.

The reason, according to the authorities, was that there was no way to know where the cats came from and thus, created a biosecurity risk. However, their excuse did not pass with the locals and animal rights groups, who protested in grief over the horrific decision.

In tens of thousands of comments, many Taiwan residents questioned why the cats couldn’t go into quarantine or be treated.

This incident has drawn attention to the need for more humane laws in the case of unknown animals and biosecurity, in order not to witness similar events in the future.

Source: The Guardian

Photo: Sergey Semin