The bizarre video shows a man saving hundreds of cats locked in small cages just as they were about to be slaughtered.

The man, identified only as Zhou, was dubbed a hero after he rescued more than 200 stray cats that were about to be slaughtered by dealers on 21st January.

Zhou reportedly intercepted the dealers after having received a tip from several people online about their location. In the city of Nanjing, in China’s eastern province of Jiangsu.

In the video, he can be seen moving around the property, and recording the cats. Some of which were even stuffed in net bags.

The brave man later told Chinese media that he adopted all of the cats and he is now looking after them in a country house he rented.

The cats were allegedly destined for the regions of Guangdong and Guangxi. Where they were intended to be slaughtered and sold as meat products.

Cat meat can fetch CNY 4.5 (GBP 0.51) per catty, a unit of measure in China that is roughly equivalent to 600 grammes (1.3 lbs).

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About four million cats are reportedly killed for human consumption in China, each year.

The disturbing footage triggered a wave of comments on China’s version of TikTok, Douyin, and on the microblogging website Weibo, after it was shared later that day.

Douyin user ‘It’s so hard to come up with a name’ said: “I wonder where people eat cats.”

User ‘Dogtail grass wants to bloom’ commented. “How can we ensure the safety of our food? Cat meat is mixed with beef, sheep, and pork.”

And ‘The sunshine in my heart dyhhd’ added: “I will never eat meat products from the Guangdong and Guangxi areas.”