Police in China have arrested eight people involved in illegally selling syringes filled with a deadly substance that were used as darts to hunt down street dogs for their meat.
These dogs are slaughtered for their meat and their tainted meat are then sold to restaurants for consumption. According to Shanghaiist via Medium, the suspects sold 200,000 of these syringes which contain a lethal dose of suxamethonium.
Chinese authorities also seized a workshop that belonged to the suspects in the province of Hubei and unearthed 10,000 needles, 100,000 yuan ($15,131) and 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) of chemical powder.
According to emc, suxamethonium chloride is used as a muscle relaxant, but the amount used in these custom syringes are reportedly enough to kill a dog instantaneously.
Police also warned citizens that eating the tainted meat of these hunted dogs could lead to some health hazards. Furthermore, the arrested suspects were involved in a wide scale business as they reportedly conducted their operations in over 20 provinces across China so far.
It’s no wonder such businesses are thriving, given that there are cases where restaurant owners personally hunt down dogs to make signature meat hot pots. Certain areas like Yulin even celebrate the consumption of dog meat in an event called Lychee and Dog Meat Festival, where it has become so notorious that activists are clamoring for the Chinese government to put an end to the city’s barbaric celebration.
