Dog hunter done in by deadly darts

A man has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison in Jiading district for leaving darts loaded with a powerful muscle relaxant on the street while he drove around killing stray dogs, the local court said Wednesday.

The defendant, whom the court called Cheng Xu, was charged with "endangering public security with dangerous means," according to a press release from Jiading District People's Court.

Prosecutors charged Cheng with the crime over an incident that occurred on July 22, 2012, during which a man died after getting into a fight with the defendant.

Cheng had been making money hunting stray dogs since March 2012, the court said. He sold the carcasses to "dog dealers."

Although the court did not disclose why these people bought the dead animals, there are restaurants in Shanghai that sell dishes made with dog meat, which is considered a delicacy in some parts of China.

In past cases, the meat used in some of those dishes came from dogs shot by people carrying dart guns, according to a previous report in the Global Times.

Cheng hunted dogs with darts containing suxamethonium chloride, a powerful muscle relaxant, the court said.

In the early morning of July 22, 2012, Cheng shot and killed 12 dogs in Baoshan and Jiading districts, the court said. He was about to call it a day and drive home around 6 am when a man, whom the court called Yang Shu, approached his car carrying a dart that had missed its target.

Yang stuck his head through the driver's side window and began berating Cheng, said Zhang Xiaoli, a press officer with the Jiading District People's Court.

It was unclear what happened inside the car, but Zhang said the pair got into a fight and the dart somehow ended up stuck in Yang's head.

Yang collapsed and Cheng called the police. Yang was taken to a hospital where doctors determined that he died from suxamethonium chloride poisoning. Police later found 111 darts containing the drug in Cheng's home. Cheng confessed that he had killed dogs in Baoshan and Jiading districts, as well as in Jiangsu province, the court said.

The Jiading District People's Prosecutor's Office charged Cheng in November 2012 after he admitted that he did not pick up the used darts from the street. He had left more than 50 darts on the street since March 2012.

Cheng was not charged in connection with Yang's death, though the court did order him to pay 1.1 million yuan ($175,856) in compensation to Yang's family.