Chinese woman buys ‘dream’ American Shorthair kitten online, but gets dead rural cat in post
She complained to Shanghai vendor after spending 5,500 yuan on cat, but later found she was one of more than 20 people sent dead or diseased rural kittens instead of expensive breeds
A Chinese woman, who had longed to own an American Shorthair cat, bought a kitten for 5,500 yuan (HK$6,600) from an online vendor, but was shocked when a dead Chinese rural cat was delivered to her home, mainland media reports.
The woman, identified only by her surname of Wang, discovered she was only one of more than 20 people who had been tricked into buying expensive breeds of cats by a Shanghai-based vendor, only to be sent dead or diseased kittens, Shanghai Morning Post reported.
Wang, from the city of Huaian, in Jiangsu province, spotted a cute white American Shorthair cat on the online shopping website 58.com last month and added the seller to her WeChat account.
The vendor, using the name, “Love life, love pets”, claimed to be from Shanghai and sent Wang photographs and a video of the kitten.
Wang then paid 5,500 yuan for the cat, plus a further 530 yuan to cover medical check-up fees, via WeChat, the report said.
However, the cat sent to her over a two-day period without food and water was a recently weaned Chinese rural kitten, and it was dead by the time it arrived at Wang’s home.
Wang contacted the vendor on WeChat, who claimed it was simply an error by the delivery company and promised to arrange a refund.
However, after waiting for the money for 10 days, Wang then found that she had been blocked by the vendor’s WeChat account, and was no longer able to contact the vendor, the report said.
After carrying out some research on the internet, Wang found she was not the only victim. More than 20 other people had also received dead or sick kittens from a Shanghai- based vendor after paying for expensive breeds online, Shanghai Morning Post reported.
Although Wang and the other victims reported their cases to the police, the authorities said their hands were tied because the vendor had not committed any fraud or other criminal offence because a cat had always been sent out to customers.
As the breed of the cat that had been sent was disputed, it was considered a civil matter, police said.
Although Wang believed she had bought an overpriced rural cat, the vendor could simply claim that the cat that was sent had been worth the high price, a police officer told the Shanghai Morning Post.
