For most of us around the world when we think of cats and kittens we think of loving and wonderful pets. In fact in the U.S. alone cats outnumber dogs as the preferred pet of choice. This is because not only do cats make great companions but also because they are more independent than dogs and allow an owner more freedom in not having to rush home to walk the cat as with a dog. Cats are also very intelligent and can be very compatible with other animals and children too.

But as much as most of the world has this great affection for cats, this feeling is not shared everywhere. In fact in most of Asia, cats are many times viewed as a source of human consumption. Not only is this incomprehensible to most people but the manner in which cats are often kept and then killed for consumption is beyond horrific and inhumane. But this deep dark secret is slowly being exposed to the light of media attention.

Recently in China in the city of Guangzhou, the capital of the southern province of Guangdong, a cat market known as the Xin Yuan market was exposed by the The Daily Mail, a british publication. The story was about the appalling conditions that hundreds of cats had to endure while waiting to be killed for food. The Mail's report was then followed up by newspapers and magazines around the world.

Not only was the Chinese embassy in London flooded with calls, letters and emails (many from Chinese residents of Britain) but many also wrote to the animal welfare organization, Animals Asia Foundation. Jill Robinson, director of Animals Asia Foundation, who was armed with hundreds of letters opposing the cat market set up a meeting with Chinese government officials to press for a change in the law. The Chinese officials bowing to pressure ordered police officers to raid the market last week and close it down.

The conditions that were discovered by the Mail were described as finding hundreds of cats on display, crammed in cages stacked up to 12ft high in some cases. Many times up to 25 cats were squeezed into small 2ft by 3ft cages. Some of them remained there for up to two months inside these cages and many died before reaching their final destination. These cats were normally fed once a day on a mixture of rice and animal feed. The cats were initially reared by villagers who sold them to the market where they were then bought by restaurant owners.

Many of the cat traders were stunned by the closing down of this market. One trader, Yanwu Peng expressed his confusion about the concerns of the treatment of his cats by saying, "I do not think it is wrong to keep them this way. They will die soon anyway." At one restaurant in Guangzhou the cats are kept in cages outside and customers are invited to make their selection. The chef then kills the cat they have chosen by cutting its throat.

Jill Robinson (Animals Asia Foundation director), gratefully sent her thanks to the Mail for exposing the cruel methods of this cat market and starting the international chain reaction to end it. She was very surprised but delighted that the Chinese authorities acted so quickly to shut it down.

So the wheels of change are beginning to turn even in a country like China. A country where centuries old customs of viewing cats as food and therefore not requiring any concern for humane treatment is quite commonplace. Maybe someday, even cats in China will also be seen as the wonderful and loving animals that they are as seen in the video below.