Summary: For some reason the pet shop owners think dogs, rabbits, and hamsters are the same.
Day1: Colleagues tell me there is a market in Anning where i might find a dog. I arrive there at 12, and i first thing i find they are using a gas burner to roast a dog. Not what i had in mind, so i left. Not a good start.
Day2: I go to a local vet, near Wenlin Jie. They tell me about two pet stores I should check out.
First store on Yuantong street leading to east side of Green lake. There were ~15 dogs in small cages. 10 dogs were mature adults. Cages were barely big enough for them to turn around. We ask about other dogs, shop keeper says there are more down stairs, but we are not allowed down there. I take a peak, an underground room with little light and many dogs barking like crazy. Non of the cages had water.
Second: after lunch, we go to the bird and flower market, downtown KM. We saw an old lady sitting on the sidewalk with pups in a basket. For some reason, she insisted on selling us a pup that still cannot open its eyes. Pup was still not weaned off its mother.
Third, a pet market on Xingyuan street. Again, dogs are locked up in cages just big enough. Again, no water! I really cannot remember seeing any cage with a drinking source. It's a big market. But this time I was surprised to see most dogs were full grown adults. Huge dogs (Labradors, Mastiffs, only one greyhound!!!!, Alaskan Malamutes, Huskeys, one St. Bernard!, various shepard dogs, that's all I can remember now) such huge dogs cannot be locked up in tiny cages. Owners were holding onto them hoping someone pays them 3000 rmb, or the dogs go crazy.
One lady wanted to show us pups outside the market, in a private home. 30 minutes later, a lady and a man show up carrying two ~10 kg pups. We were told they are 2 months old. They were frightened, and weak. They could not walk properly. Obviously they were locked up for a long time. Asking price was 2800 rmb each. They were something similar to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackmouth_Cur but they were black except for brown feet and brow spots above the eyes. The lady was carrying the dogs like rabbits. Their tails were cut off.
We go back to the pet market. A pup in a cage facing the shop were in is dead. It was not dead when we left. Again, no water! This pup is barely a month old. I cannot speak much Chinese. My friend finds the shop owner, and tells him about the dead dog. He picks it up with a news paper, and throws it in a bin outside the shop. We ask why there is no water in the cages, he said they just ate and cannot drink water. Actually, seems they were not touching their food, they were too weak to eat. My friend flips and starts shouting. A mob gathers around, silent, only looking to see what the commotion is about. The owner puts some water in the cages and goes back to playing mahjongg.
Now that I write about it, it kind of reminds me of the cabbage fields in villages around KM. Cabbages are left to fully grow and then wither and dry up on the ground.