BEIJING: A game centre in China has come under fire after it used real hamsters as prizes in its claw machines to attract customers.
The venue, in a shopping centre in Shenzhen in southern China’s Guangdong province, was reported to have filled a machine with hamsters, instead of the normal plush toys.
Its actions triggered an online backlash, with many people accusing the outlet of animal abuse.
According to online footage, the hamsters cowered in the corner of the machine.
Clips also reportedly showed the animals suffering obvious signs of stress caused by the noisy environment of the game centre and the occasional hits from the metal claw.
It was also revealed that when the shop closed during the Spring Festival holiday in February, no one was left in charge of feeding the hamsters.
Some people tried to contact the citizen service hotline, but only received replies that they cannot deal with the matter because “Shenzhen does not have an animal protection law”, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.
Following the online controversy, the shop was discovered to have quietly removed the hamster claw machine and replaced it with several new fish and turtle scooping machines.
When asked why it had removed the hamsters, a member of staff said they were “not allowed to keep hamsters”.
More than 100 small fish were kept in a single box and the cleaning equipment was not separated from the tank.
Moreover, there were no signs that the shop had acquired an animal business licence or an animal epidemic prevention certificate.
Another staff member of the shop later revealed that all live animals had been removed last week.
Lawyer Zhang Zi’ang, with the Beijing Dacheng Law Firm, said that the claw machine using living animals may have broken China’s Animal Epidemic Prevention Law if the shop does not have the relevant licence.
China does not have a nationwide animal welfare law to protect small animals, farm animals and pets from abuse.
Shenzhen’s inability to protect the animals and expose the shop caused heartbreak for some animal-lover as the city had been hailed as China’s best at animal protection.
Recently, the Shenzhen Bay Park went viral online for insisting on turning down lights and not letting the public feed seagulls to protect migratory birds passing the city.
In 2020, Shenzhen also became the first Chinese city to issue a ban on eating cats and dogs, a move widely welcomed by animal-lover.
However, compared with the expanding definition of pets in China in recent years due to the rising popularity of exotic animals such as turtles, snakes and birds, the law’s definition of companion animals seemed too narrow.
According to a report published on March 5, the local authorities had required the shop to rectify its business due to lack of a relevant licence. All the living animals were reportedly removed. - South China Morning Post
