Dozens of dogs and cats were found packed into tiny crates to send as part of a worrying new shopping craze in China.
The trend sees customers pay as little as £3.50 for ‘mystery boxes’ – the content of which is unknown until they receive and open them.
Some of these boxes have animals put in them, many of which do not survive the journey.
A raid carried out by animal rights group Love Home discovered 156 boxes filled with puppies and kittens in the western city of Chengdu, which were set to be delivered to customers around the country.
The group’s founder, Chen Yunlian, told state broadcaster CCTV: ‘I told the young man selling the animal blind boxes that he was making money at the cost of the lives of these animals.’
Many die from suffocation or starvation before they arrive at their destinations.
Chen added on social media: ‘Vendors usually stop providing food and water a day before the departure to limit animals’ excretions.’
Delivering live animals by mail is illegal, but this is poorly policed, according to CNN.
Usually the mystery boxes contain fun items like toys and action figures, which may encourage people to buy more packages to try to complete the set.
But some traders actively promote the boxes as containing animals. CNN saw one listing offering a ‘fresh, little’ box containing a ‘random’ dog for 599 Chinese yuan – around £66.
Another site offers a ‘dog mystery box’ for 32 yuan – around £3.50.
In the raid, Love Home found three motionless dogs packed into a space of just 30 square cm. It is unknown which company this box was from.
Scientist Evan Sun, from the World Animal Protection charity in China, said not enough is being done to tackle the problem.
‘For people who want a pet, they should be aware that it is unaccepted to transport animals in such an inhumane way,’ he added.
An opinion piece in state newspaper Xinhua said: ‘Both buyers and sellers should start from their hearts, have more goodwill and more respect for life.’
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