Small fish, turtles and other amphibians are being sold in Beijing as mobile phone trinkets and key rings, to the chagrin of animal rights groups.
Kept in bags filled with colored, oxygenated water, the animals cost around $1.50 each.
One vendor selling the animals outside of a Beijing subway station told CNN that the bag contained crystallized oxygen and nutrients.
She said that that the animals could live for days but also warned that they should be freed from the bag as soon as the air ran out or they would suffocate.
Among the animals being sold are young Chinese soft-shell turtles – the adult turtles are a popular dish in Chinese cooking.
The live trinkets have been condemned by animal rights groups who have highlighted the lack of animal protection laws in China.
“Lack of food and diminishing oxygen concentrations within both the water and the small amount of air in these plastic pouches will cause the animals to die in a relatively short period of time after the pouches are sealed,” said David Neale, animal welfare director of Animals Asia.

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