Farmers kill, rip fur of foxes brutally  

数万蓝狐被棒杀剥皮 养殖户：谈人道太奢侈

每年冬季是狐狸等动物的集中宰杀季节。11月21日，在西安市临潼区南王村蓝狐养殖园区，街头的血腥宰杀随处可见，蓝狐被敲头时发出的凄惨的嚎叫声，令笼舍中的同类眼神里充满惊恐。 [查看全文]

(ECNS) – On a farm located in Nanwang village at Xi'an, Shaanxi province, hundreds of thousands of arctic foxes were killed with sticks and skinned as other foxes watched, Shaanxi-based Chinese Business View reported.

The farm has been raising arctic foxes for over 10 years, which provide their fur. And from late November to early December every year, all the foxes except a few left for breeding are killed and furred, leaving the air full of the smell of slaughter.

There is no slaughterhouse on the farm, and the live foxes have to witness their fellows being beaten to death.

A farmer surnamed Wang said he had invested a lot of money in the foxes, and in order to make money from them, he couldn't afford mercy.

"At first I couldn't bear to kill them with my hands, but asking others to kill cost me 10 yuan for each," Wang said. "To save the cost, I had to be heartless. Now I'm used to it, so is my little grandson."

Most farmers said they raise foxes to fur them and make money. "If you cannot bear it, you'd better not raise them."

Some said it's too much of a luxury for them to treat the animals humanely. "We are not rich and we can't afford it."

Some farmers even feed the fox meat to the other foxes.

A witness said, "Even though these animals are fated to be killed and furred, I hope they can be killed humanely."

Zhang Yuanyuan, director of China ACTAsia for Animals, said farmers killing the animals that they raised themselves is, in fact, potentially harmful to their psyches, as well as to their children's.