BEIJING - The Year of the Pig can't come soon enough for one herd of swine in southern China after hundreds of them were left without food and water because of a lease dispute, local media reported.

With the new Chinese Year of the Pig due to begin on February 18, the Yangcheng Evening News said dozens of young men chased away farmers and stopped them from tending to their swine for over a day until local officials intervened.

"Most pigs were so hungry and thirsty that they were not even able to stand and only huddled together, with some piglets lying lifeless," the newspaper said.

Two animal rights groups in northern China meanwhile seized about 400 stray cats from a market vendor in Tianjin city who was to sell them to restaurants and fur dealers, the Beijing News said.

The cats, many of whom had been abused by their owners, were shipped to Beijing on Sunday to await adopters but members of the two groups faced charges of disrupting business and assaulting police, the newspaper said.