Black cats being boiled and made into paste after rumor spreads that eating them cures coronavirus
Animal rights activists are calling for action following reports from Vietnam that black cats are being killed and eaten in the country over rumors that it could help fend off the novel coronavirus.
The 'No To Dog Meat' charity said cats were being skinned, boiled, cooked, and then turned into a paste that was consumed by people hoping to protect themselves against Covid-19, but also those suffering from it.
The charity said the practice was primarily centered around the country's capital, Hanoi, but that it was also being sold online.
In a graphic video that captured the horrific process involved in making the "cure", a live cat was placed in a cooking pot, and boiling water was poured over it. In another similarly disturbing video, rows of dead cats could be seen drying in the sun after they had been slaughtered.
The charity also posted images of the black paste that was the end-result, and which would then be packed in containers to be shipped, as well as that of a young child being fed the concoction.
Julia de Cadenet, who founded the charity, said the footage had made her blood run cold and that there was no scientific evidence whatsoever behind the new practice.
"People all over the world are understandably terrified of Covid-19, but this does not excuse the horrific cruelty that Vietnamese people are inflicting on these poor cats," she told the Sun. "There is no evidence whatsoever that eating cats cures coronavirus, and even if there was, this inhumane treatment is a level of cruelty that is unacceptable even for those who eat meat."
MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) previously reported that dog and cat meat sales had seen a spike in Vietnam, as well as Cambodia, during the coronavirus pandemic. The meats' popularity had seen even the big restaurants offering dog and cat dishes for takeaway on food delivery apps.
The surge stemmed from doctors telling people that the animals' "natural properties" can help them fight off the coronavirus.
Animal charity FOUR PAWS warned that the new trend carried a very high risk of new illnesses spreading.
Cadenet also brought up reports about how similar rumors in China at the start of the pandemic that claimed cats and dogs were carriers of the virus had resulted in them being culled.
"In China when the virus first broke, rumors flew around that pets could spread the disease, this led to many people and the authorities rounding up animals and killing them," she said. "Our human fears about this pandemic should not be used as an excuse to treat defenseless animals who look to us for protection, with utter contempt."
MEAWW had reported on one such incident where community officers in China had been filmed beating two stray dogs to death in broad daylight to stop the spread of the virus.
The clip was shot at a residential complex in the city of Nanchong in the Sichuan Province of China, while another clip taken in the same place showed the workers walking away from the dogs' bodies after killing them.