Residents looking to buy a cute pet bunny online for the Chinese Year of the
Rabbit are ending up with a dead animal in a box, after dealing with
unscrupulous companies.

Huge numbers of live rabbits had been listed as hot “items” for sale on the
country’s leading e-commerce platforms as the 2011 Chinese lunar New Year
approaches.

But many animals dispatched illegally arrive frozen or suffocated after
taking several days to reach customers.

Deliveries have been delayed by labor shortages among couriers – as staff
leave for the Spring Festival – and bad weather, with fatal consequences for the
pets.

And to make customers’ misery complete, some vendors will not provide a
refund unless the dead rabbit is returned to them – even though it is illegal to
do this.

On leading e-commerce platform Taobao.com, one online vendor has sold 89
rabbits in the past week at 30 yuan (US$4.5) each. But according to customer
comments, many pets died in transit or shortly after arrival.

The platform showed more than 600 online vendors selling pet rabbits, with
prices ranging from 15 to 2,000 yuan for some American breeds.

But with some deliveries taking five days, it is almost impossible for the
animals to survive.

Their odds are reduced even further through rough handling by transport
workers, many who don’t realize they are dealing with live animals as packages
are often labelled “Fragile: Glass” in a bid to avoid security checks.

“Chinese law bans the transport of living animals without a certificate of
quarantine,” said Zhang Jun, an official with leading courier company, Shentong
Express.

But Zhang said though Shentong would not get involved in the business, some
small couriers run the risk due to the profits of offer.

Workers with those companies could be unlicensed, he said.

One Beijing-based rabbit vendor told Shanghai Daily that it had stopped
online trading to other cities and provinces because too many rabbits died in
transit.

But other vendors have now figured out a way to protect their profits despite
the high mortality rate: they insist customers must send back the dead rabbits
to get a refund.

Regulations forbid dead animals being sent in this way, leading some
customers to complain that it’s impossible to get a refund.

Taobao officials appealed to rabbit vendors to ensure that animals are
transported in the correct manner to customers.