According to figures from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the compound growth rate of China’s pet industry was 49.1 percent from 2010 to 2016. Other pet-related goods and services are also performing well. The very existence of blind-boxed mail orders of pets, troubling as it may be, sends another signal: China’s pet industry is booming.ĭuring last year’s 11/11 or “Single’s Day,” China’s-and the world’s-largest ecommerce event, cat food, of all things that can be purchased online, was the top-selling category on Tmall Global, Alibaba’s cross-border ecommerce marketplace. Pet ownership, once rare in China, is dramatically increasing as the everyman’s relationship with and understanding of animals continues to evolve alongside the country’s rapid social and economic development. Yet, the fact that the videos generated widespread controversy also highlights a progress of sorts. Despite repeated calls from civil society, animal cruelty laws remain squarely off the books. For Chinese netizens, this phenomenon was a stark reminder of how far China still has to go in addressing animal abuse.
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