Claw machines are one of the most popular arcade games in China.

However, a shop has put live cats in one of its claw machines, sparking an outcry among the internet users.

A recent video clip shows the machine, located in an unspecified city, allows customers to try picking up the cats and dropping it into the funnel.

Shocking footage has emerged showing live cats being put in a claw machine as the prize

The footage, which captures a man playing the claw machine, has drawn extreme comments on the social media.

The video shows three cats - one black, one white with black dots and one black and white - trapped in a claw machine.

The machine has a sticker near its funnel, which said 'Master, bring me home'.

One man can be seen moving the claw towards the white cat.

As the video continues, one of the cats sitting at the back was alerted. It looked scared when the claw started to move towards it.

The claw hit the neck of the white cat, but it failed to pick it up.

The cat escaped, but the cats in the machine seemed to be frightened.

The man in the video said: '(The cat is) too fat.'

The video was first posted on qq.com on April 9. It was quickly shared on the Chinese social media.

It is suggested that the filming took place in one of the Chinese cities, according to Chung Tien TV.

The cat struggled and the man failed to get the animal. The man then said: '(The cat is) too fat'

It is unclear whether or not the machine belonged to a pet shop.

Web users have different opinions towards the video.

Some web users were tempted to try the machine with live felines as they were interested to see the cats' reactions.

'Look at the cat's shocked face, how cute,' said web user with the screen name 'Songhua107s'.

'I want to try! Tell me where is this and I will bring some toys,' said another user 'k1ng'.

But animal lovers disagreed and blamed the owner of the machine for the animal rights.

'The sharp claw will hurt the cats! I am scared,' said user 'Auztheplanet'.

'The cats were scared!' Another user, 'fantassyso', commented

Other people felt such a marketing stunt has already brought negative mental impact on the cats.