The city's quality control watchdog is investigating a business suspected of selling counterfeit brand pet food online, the agency announced Tuesday.

The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision began its investigation in February after receiving a report that a highly rated store on taobao.com had been selling counterfeit brand cat and dog food for two years, according to a bureau press release.

Bureau officials and police spent a month investigating the business to determine where it was keeping its products. According to the bureau, the business changed warehouse sites frequently to protect itself. Investigators eventually traced the business's warehouse to a location in rural Qingpu district.

The business's owner, surnamed Luo, told authorities that he hired employees to buy ordinary pet food online and then repackaged it using fake packaging of famous pet food brands such as "Royal Canin" and "Pedigree."

The store had a rating of two crowns on taobao.com, indicating that it was popular and trusted by its customers. It was selling more than 10,000 yuan ($1,612) worth of pet food each month, the bureau said.

Authorities found repacking machines, a scale and an abundance of empty packaging at the roughly 50-square-meter warehouse. They also found about 380 packages of pet food.

The store owner could be charged with the crime of manufacturing and selling counterfeit products. Police are still investigating the case.

Global Times