Dog-meat lovers beware: your favourite delicacy may be poisoned

Dog-hunters in Zhejiang province have been prosecuted by the authorities last week for selling over 3500 kilograms of poisoned dog meat, most of which have made their way to restaurants.

Police investigations uncovered three dog-hunting gangs in Anji county who would intentionally poison dogs in local villages with sodium cyanide, and then sell them for dog meat, in what has become Anji county’s largest food safety problem, local media reports say.

Last week, authorities in Anji county pressed charges against suspect Zheng Taixiang, Zeng Wusi and nine others for the illegal possession and sale of toxic substances and the sale of toxic foodstuffs. Suspects who helped them sell poisoned dog meat were also prosecuted.

Police in Anji county were first tipped off that a local village in Dipu reported a series of missing dogs, which led villagers to believe that the dogs had been stolen.

Between 2013 and last year, the suspects stole and poisoned about 25 dogs from multiple villages by feeding them chicken bones laced with poison, which would kill the dogs in seconds. Retailers would then purchase the meat despite being aware that the dog meat was poisonous.

Authorities seized almost 10 kilograms of sodium cyanide and about 150 dead dogs in the investigation. Of the 3500 kilograms of meat that had been sold, the majority were sold to restaurants. The meat was also found outside of Anji in Changxing county and Linan city.