Footage from the spot showed the dogs being crammed into wire cages in poor condition. When they discovered the truck last weekend, animal rights activists were concerned that some of them might be suffering from infectious diseases. So they reported the truck to the police, citing the country’s legislation to prevent the epidemic. Lin Xiong, one of the activists who saw the truck being dragged away by police, said: “It was horrible to see so many dogs in such a horrible situation, it was like a truck from hell to these poor animals. “The massacre brings shame to our country and so we will continue to fight until we see an end to this suffering.” Ahead of this year’s Yulin Dog Meat Festival, which attracts a small crowd to the city, Chinese activists have come up with creative ways to save dogs from being killed. Xiao He, a Shaanxi-based animal rights activist, said he had worked for weeks with other activists to read China’s existing laws and regulations to persuade authorities to stop the event. “There are regulations that state how animals are treated, for example legally required quarantine inspection certificates. But clearly those who carried the dogs did not comply with the regulations. We must remember this, as must the authorities [of those regulations],” He said. In 2020, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said that dogs are not “animals” for food, but rather pets. Campaigners involved in rescuing the dogs on board said they were of different breeds, sizes and health conditions. They said they were most likely stolen guard dogs or pets, strays that were grabbed from the streets or other unknown sources without traceability. Following the police intervention at the weekend, the dogs were sent to quarantine. Chinese activists told the Guardian that the dogs had now been handed over to the Beijing Capital Animal Welfare Association after traders signed an agreement to relinquish ownership of the animals. Peter Li, a Chinese policy expert at Humane Society International, a campaign group, said Yulin’s principles had been “tricked” by traders who falsely claimed that eating dog meat was “traditional” and part of the local food culture. “The consumption of dog meat is based on supply, it is guided by traders and not by consumers. “The slaughter of dogs in Yulin is commercial in nature, not cultural,” he said. Lee said his ground team saw Yulin police try to prevent business owners from doing a “festival” show. “Eaters outside Guangxi were quite large before 2014. This group has declined dramatically especially since 2020. Most eaters are local and the number is declining.”
