中国网站品牌栏目（频道）
More than 800 cats, locked up in rows of iron cages in a store in Tianjin municipality, would have been transported to Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and slaughtered had it not been for about 30 residents. They rallied for nearly 24 hours, negotiating with the trader and police, to free the animals yesterday.
Pet lovers and animal welfare volunteers started pouring into a neighborhood in Hongqiao district of the municipality, 120 km from Beijing, minutes after photographs of the caged cats were flashed on the Internet on Monday night.
The trader said the cats, which he bought for 10 yuan apiece, were to be sent to Guangzhou, slaughtered and served as food at restaurants in South China.
Li Na, a saleswoman by profession, who was present at the spot, said the cats were either picked up from the streets or stolen from their owners.
Li was among dozens of local residents who spent the night outside the "flower and birds store" to ensure the cats were not sneaked away behind their backs. Residents said the store, which has a license to sell flowers, birds, fish and worms, had been trading cats for the last six months.
Qin Xiaona, chief of the Beijing-based Capital Animal Welfare Association, alleged it was obvious most of the cats were stolen. Qin rushed to Tianjin as word spread of the caged cats.
"The police told us that the trader bought the cats. But the trader was unable to provide receipts to prove any of the 800 purchases," Qin said.
Qin said the cats were suffocating in the cages and many of them would have died on the way to Guangzhou.
It took Li, Qin and their likes 24 hours to convince the trader to free the cats after intervention from the police last night. Police have given the volunteers a room in a nearby school to house the cats, many of which are in need of urgent medical care, Qin said.
He Yong, a representative of the International Fund of Animal Welfare, said the incident was only the "tip of an iceberg".
China has no laws prohibiting the trading of cats, resulting in large-scale theft of the animals, which reportedly get eaten.
Questions:
1. Where were the photographs of the caged cats seen?
2. Where were the cats being sent?
3. What does the "flower and birds store" have a license to sell?
Answers:
1. On the Internet.
2. Guangzhou, Guangdong province.
3. Flowers, birds, fish and worms.
（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Nancy Matos is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Nancy is a graduate of the Broadcast Journalism and Media program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Her journalism career in broadcast and print has taken her around the world from New York to Portugal and now Beijing. Nancy is happy to make the move to China and join the China Daily team.
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