An incredibly courageous rescue story has emerged fromGuangzhou, China, after a truck carrying over 800 dogs headed for slaughter was stopped by locals.
Source: Peter J. Li/Facebook
The dogs were packed into one truck, with no room to move and barely enough room to breathe.Not that it would make much of a difference if they managed to make their destination: a slaughterhouse.Often, dogs used for meat in China are killed in extremely inhumane ways like beatings, electrocution and hanging.
Source: Peter J. Li/Facebook
Peter Li with the Humane Society International (HSI) toldThe Dodo:
The dogs suffered a lot due to high density. Disease has been spreading among some dogs. There are also pregnant mother dogs who suffered the most from food deprivation.
They had been in this condition for three days, and some of them had even started to die from the horrible living conditions.
Source: Peter J. Li/Facebook
It all started when one local in an SUV pulled out right in front of the truck demanding to see the health records for all the animals.In China, there are no dog meat farms, which means often those used for this purpose are strays pulled from the street, or even family pets who've been stolen.Because of this, drivers and vendors need health certificates for every single canine. Guessing that there was no way for the man to have all 800 records, he was able to stop him in his tracks. Li continued:
Without the certificates, the dogs can be considered stolen.
Source: Peter J. Li/Facebook
What started off with one person, snowballed, and resulted in 300 people within the hour. The police were called to deal with the standoff, and 10 hours later after it became clear that the man didn't have any of the animals' health certificates, they were all to be set free.
Posted by Peter J. Li on Monday, June 19, 2017
The survivors were unloaded from the truck by the animal activists on site. Many of them seemed to be comfortable with humans, indicating they might have been pets.
Source: Peter J. Li/Facebook
All of them were given medical attention and food before being checked for microchips at a nearby rescue.
There shall be around-the-clock care by the activists. When they recover physically and mentally, they will be offered for adoption.
Source: Peter J. Li/Facebook
Li hopes that this shows the turning tide of attitudes towards dog and cat meat consumption in China:
Guangzhou used to be called the ‘world capital of dog and cat meat consumption. This rescue in Guangzhou tells the world that dog meat industry has no future in this mega city in South China.
Luckily, in South Korea and China, the number of citizens who eat dog meat is on the decline. But the fight does not end here – we need to keep on campaigning until the trade is outlawed completely. Humane Society International and Animals Asia have both been working tirelessly to end this cruel industry. You can help them by making a donation to their organizations, here, for HSI, and, here, for Animals Asia.To sign the petition to end the slaughter of thousands of innocent dogs and cats, click here.
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