Volunteers from an animal shelter found in a van of a ZTO logistics company nearly 160 animals locked in packages, several of them suffocated.
The dogs and cats were in surprise pouches, mystery boxes very fashionable in China.
The surviving animals are subject to veterinary monitoring.
A surprise bag ... with a puppy or a kitten inside.
The passion of certain young Chinese for mystery boxes led this week to a macabre discovery: 160 animals locked in packages, including several suffocated dead.
The packages were found by volunteers from the local Aizhijia animal shelter in the van of a logistics company, ZTO, in Chengdu (southwest).
The surviving animals are under veterinary follow-up, Aizhijia reported on social media Thursday.
A scandal on social networks
When the cargo was discovered on Monday evening, the refuge had made an apocalyptic description of the scene. The truck was "filled with barking and meowing (of animals). As the truck door was closed, there was no more air and they could only suffocate," Aizhijia wrote. "Many small cats and dogs were either dying or had already died."
ZTO apologized, while explaining that the shipments were made by e-commerce sites.
Its Chengdu branch, which made the delivery, will have to conduct "an exhaustive internal inspection" and its employees will undergo "training in safety rules," the logistics company added.
The discovery caused a scandal on social networks in China, where the delivery of animals by parcel is banned.
The fashion of mystery boxes
But the country has been experiencing a vogue for mystery boxes for a few years.
The principle?
Buy online a gift whose content is unknown, most often a toy or a figurine.
In 2019, this market was valued at around one billion euros, according to market research firm Qianzhan Intelligence.
On the Weibo network, a user confides in having seen surprise packages containing a purebred cat or dog for barely one euro for sale on the internet.
"We order a living creature and then we end up with a dead animal suffocated, from hunger, heat or cold," imagines the horrified Internet user.
The hashtag "animal in mystery box" was viewed 420 million times on Weibo on Friday.
"This is not a cute fashion or a toy that we get rid of overnight. These surprise bags make me say that we live in a crazy and terrifying society," protested another Internet user. On Friday, on the online sales site Taobao - owned by giant Alibaba - it was possible to order live animals, but not in the form of a surprise bag.