Recently, the Yangzhou Court in Jiangsu Province posted an auction announcement on the Ali Assets Auction website, stating that a 3-year-old tabby cat will be auctioned off at a starting price of 500 yuan. According to officials, the cat is being auctioned off because its owner is unable to repay debts.
The auction page on the Ali Assets Auction website shows that the cat will be auctioned at 10 a.m. on September 3, starting at 500 yuan. Currently, there is one registered bidder.
The auction item is described as a male tabby cat that has not been neutered. The cat is currently held at the Happy Pet Store by the Yangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone Court.
The auction notice issued by the court indicates that Suzhou Nongrun Asset Management Co., Ltd. has been entrusted to provide consultation and inspection services for the subject of the auction during the auction period.
On August 16, a staff member of the asset management company to which the cat belongs told Jiupai News that the cat’s owner was taken to court due to debt default, leading to the auction of the cat. The cat was born in 2022, and when it was just a few months old, its owner’s assets were seized by the court, and since then, it has been fostered at a pet store.
“According to the pet market, tabby cats are not considered valuable, but due to circumstances, the starting price for the auction is set at 500 yuan. The cost of caring for this cat is quite high, as the pet store mentioned it costs tens of thousands of yuan annually,” the staff member explained. “There are many pet auctions on Ali Auctions, so this is not particularly unusual. If you participate in the bidding, you don’t need to cover the cost of fostering the cat.”
As early as 2017, a judicial auction initiated by the Zhangjiagang City Court in Jiangsu Province featured 12 pet cats. Except for one Maine Coon cat with a starting price of 2,000 yuan that received no bids, the other 11 cats were successfully auctioned off.
At the same time, the Taicang City Court in Suzhou also auctioned off 5 pet cats. They were seized because their owners were listed as dishonest debtors, unable to repay their debts, with no other assets to liquidate, leading to the cats being used to settle the debts.