Some ox slaughter house in Quanjiao and Laian, East China's Anhui province reportedly force about 60 kilograms water into each ox in order to increase their net weight before slaughtering them. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

A video that went viral online shows how the illegal slaughterhouses did the cruel deed: They put one end of a water pipe deep into an ox's nostril, with the other end linked to a water tap.

The torment of the animals can last as long as 12 hours before they are slaughtered. Some of them are in so much pain that they kneel in tears. Maybe oxen are different from humans, but doubtlessly they feel pain.

It is hard to imagine such a cruel deed could exist 18 years into the 21st century. Animal welfare might not be a widespread concern yet, but the basic principles, such as avoiding causing unnecessary pain to the animals even when slaughtering them for meat, should be widely accepted because that is in accordance with the values of any modern society.

Besides, the cruelty to the animals, the practice might also endanger public health, because the tap water might contain causative agents that make people sick. Second, the beef derived this way is cheating consumers.

Worse, this is not the first time this barbaric practice has been reported. As early as January 2013, China Central TV reported similar cases in Wuji county, North China's Hebei province, in which large quantities of "watered beef" entered the market.

The Food Safety Law was amended in 2015, and as the illegal slaughterhouses involved were found, their owners were punished, some of them were even sentenced to prison.

Yet what happened in Anhui shows such illegal profit chains still exist. A key reason for this is the law is not effectively enforced, which encourages the illegal slaughterhouse owners to think they can escape punishment.

But the recent case should be a warning that wherever they are they will be found and punished.