A court in Jiangsu, China has made headlines after putting a 3-year-old tabby cat up for auction with a starting price of 500 yuan (about RM322) because its owner failed to repay debts.
Auctioned off like an asset
According to The Epoch Times, the auction was listed on an auction platform, with bidding scheduled to begin on Sept 3 at 10am.
So far, one person has already registered to take part.
The auction notice stated that the cat, a male tabby which has not been neutered, was seized by the court after its owner was unable to repay debts.
Owner’s assets seized when cat was just months old
Staff from the asset management company told Chinese media that the cat was born in 2022.
When the owner’s property was seized by the court while the cat was only a few months old, it ended up being kept in custody ever since.
They added that while tabby cats usually don’t fetch a high price on the pet market, the starting price was set at 500 yuan, approximately RM322.
They also revealed that boarding costs for the cat have been expensive, amounting to over 10,000 yuan (around RM6,400) per year.
However, bidders will not be required to pay this fee if they win the auction.
Not the first time pets have been auctioned
This is not the first instance of pets being sold through judicial auctions in China.
Back in 2017, a court in Zhangjiagang auctioned 12 cats. Apart from a golden shaded cat that failed to attract bids at its 2,000 yuan starting price, the other 11 were successfully sold.
At the same time, another court in Suzhou auctioned five cats belonging to debt defaulters who had no other assets to settle their debts.
READ ALSO:
