Once again the use of the internet came to the rescue of a 1,000 dogs who were going to be sent to slaughter on Oct. 14th of this year in China. The rescue call went out - "Urgent: at Zigong, Sichuan, thousands of dogs are now being transported to the slaughterhouse! Please forward.” This message was sent out on "Weibo", a Chinese form of ‘Twitter’, and stirred up public attention across the country. Before long, hundreds of rescue volunteers arrived at the dog market on Oct. 15th where 1,000 dogs were found to be crammed into small overcrowded cages. Each cage is only 10 sq.ft and packed with up to 20 dogs.
Many of the dogs were injured or dehydrated or sick with disease. They had not been fed or given any water and were going to be shipped to Canton over 1,000 miles away to be slaughtered for food consumption. Most of the dogs were strays but there were also many dogs that had been stolen from pet owners or those who were being used as guard dogs. Sadly some of the dogs had already died of hunger and the cold. The volunteers began to administer water from water bottles to the dogs and fed them food from the palms of their hands. Negotiations were going on with the owner of the dog market and the dog dealers by rescue organizations to release the dogs over to them. However, the dog dealers were insisting on being financially compensated for the dogs and would not release them without it.
The rescue volunteers had accused the dog dealers of violating the Epidemic Prevention Law, which inhibits trading and consuming of unvaccinated dogs. But local Chinese officials quickly showed up and the Bureau of Animal Husbandry soon issued a certificate to the dog dealers, stating that all the dogs were vaccinated and healthy. This unethical action once again proved to discredit the local government and the country of China at large.
For awhile it was uncertain as to what was going to happen with the dogs but eventually the rescue organizations, The Love of Home Animal Rescue Center and the Qiming Animal Protection Center were able to negotiate a deal with the dog dealers. They were able to purchase the dogs and the cages and the dogs were then sent to animal shelters that night.
This was the 2nd large rescue of dogs going to slaughter that has taken place in China within the last 6 mos. The first rescue had taken place in April where a truck packed with over 500 dogs was apprehended by rescue volunteers after the word was sent out to help. Rescue volunteers have relied on a communication system of Weibo and the use of cell phones to organize these rescues since the two large social networks, Twitter and Facebook are currently banned in China. But where there is a will there is always a way.
Many of the dogs were injured or dehydrated or sick with disease. They had not been fed or given any water and were going to be shipped to Canton over 1,000 miles away to be slaughtered for food consumption. Most of the dogs were strays but there were also many dogs that had been stolen from pet owners or those who were being used as guard dogs. Sadly some of the dogs had already died of hunger and the cold. The volunteers began to administer water from water bottles to the dogs and fed them food from the palms of their hands. Negotiations were going on with the owner of the dog market and the dog dealers by rescue organizations to release the dogs over to them. However, the dog dealers were insisting on being financially compensated for the dogs and would not release them without it.
The rescue volunteers had accused the dog dealers of violating the Epidemic Prevention Law, which inhibits trading and consuming of unvaccinated dogs. But local Chinese officials quickly showed up and the Bureau of Animal Husbandry soon issued a certificate to the dog dealers, stating that all the dogs were vaccinated and healthy. This unethical action once again proved to discredit the local government and the country of China at large.
For awhile it was uncertain as to what was going to happen with the dogs but eventually the rescue organizations, The Love of Home Animal Rescue Center and the Qiming Animal Protection Center were able to negotiate a deal with the dog dealers. They were able to purchase the dogs and the cages and the dogs were then sent to animal shelters that night.
This was the 2nd large rescue of dogs going to slaughter that has taken place in China within the last 6 mos. The first rescue had taken place in April where a truck packed with over 500 dogs was apprehended by rescue volunteers after the word was sent out to help. Rescue volunteers have relied on a communication system of Weibo and the use of cell phones to organize these rescues since the two large social networks, Twitter and Facebook are currently banned in China. But where there is a will there is always a way.
These animals should never be treated this way they deserve so much more, they have stood by us for thousands of year. Stop this atrocity now. All life is sacred.