Shocking video of a gaming arcade using live hamsters as rewards has drawn understandable criticism. So has their use of fish and turtles as prizes.
The arcade located at a retail center in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in southern China, appears to have loaded a claw machine with hamsters rather than typical plush toys, which has led to an outcry of individuals accusing the business of abusing animals.
Videos shared online show the animals displaying clear signs of stress from the game center’s loud surroundings and from the metal claws chasing them around the machine.
Making it even worse, The Sun reports that the center closed for the recent Spring Festival holiday, and no one fed the hamsters.
China lacks a national animal welfare law that would shield the animals from mistreatment
According to the South China Morning Post, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported that when some people attempted to call the citizen service hotline, the operators told them they could not assist because “Shenzhen does not have an animal protection law.”
Observers later found the arcade had discreetly removed the hamster claw machine. A staff member responded that they were “not allowed to keep hamsters” when someone asked why they had removed the claw machine games.
In their place, after the internet outcry, the arcade installed multiple new fish- and turtle-scooping devices. In one game, they kept more than 100 goldfish in a single tank.
Due to a lack of a relevant license, the arcade recently had to remove all of the living animals from its games. Unfortunately, social media has no shortage of footage of arcade games at other places that use live animals.