Saved – the last dog at the meat shop: Pooch named Lucky is rescued from slaughter at Chinese store 

Animal activists in China rescued a chained-up dog from a butcher only minutes before it was slaughtered.

When rescuers raided Yulin’s dog and cat meat store and convinced the chained-up animal to be liberated, just weeks before the city’s annual dog meat festival, Lucky was scheduled to be murdered that evening.

The Akita was the last animal of the day to be butchered, and it displayed symptoms of having been someone’s pet before, implying that it had been stolen.

Dog and cat carcasses are seen hanging close during the rescue, indicating Lucky’s potential destiny if the activists did not intervene.

Lucky was taken into a veterinary shelter supported by Humane Society International who take in dogs rescued from the Chinese meat trade.

In Yulin, a summer solstice dog meat festival is held every year despite protests from animal activists.

Launched in 2010 by dog meat traders to boost sales, the event starts on June 21 attracts thousands of visitors from across the province who gather to eat dog meat stew and crispy dog meat at the city’s restaurants and stalls.

Activists are appealing to local authorities to stop the mass public gathering from going ahead, to protect public health and animal welfare.

Footage taken by the charity also shows the horrific inhumane conditions where dogs are caged prior to being slaughtered.

The animals are forced to stay in squalid rooms behind bars before they are routinely killed for the meat trade.

Liang Jia, a Guangxi activist, said: ‘The streets of Yulin are relatively quiet right now, and although you can see a few dog meat shops, stalls and dog slaughterhouses like normal, it’s nothing compared to how it will look in mid-June.

‘While elsewhere in China, cities are in COVID-19 lockdown, it makes no sense for Yulin dog meat traders to be allowed to encourage visitors to travel across the province and into the city.

‘As well as the appalling animal cruelty that will take place with thousands of dogs and cats bludgeoned to death, it’s an obvious public health risk.

‘The Yulin authorities should be taking this seriously because it would be hugely embarrassing for the Yulin dog meat festival to become a super-spreader event.’

Most people in China don’t eat dogs, and even in Yulin, polls show most citizens don’t regularly eat dog despite efforts by dog meat traders to promote it.

Opposition to the dog trade is growing in China, and in 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs made an official statement that dogs are companion animals and not ‘livestock’ for eating.

That same year, two major cities in mainland China – Shenzhen and Zhuhai – banned the consumption of dog and cat meat, a decision polling showed was supported by nearly 75 per cent of Chinese citizens.

Dr Peter Li, China policy specialist for Humane Society International which supports the care of dogs rescued from China’s meat trade, said: ‘Lucky had a narrow escape because only one blowtorched dog carcass was left on sale at the shop, meaning he would have been next.

‘But Lucky is just one of millions of dogs who suffer at the hands of dog traders across China, and one of thousands who end up in Yulin for the summer solstice event.

‘His rescuers say he was super friendly, used to walking on a leash and happily jumped into the back of the activists’ car without hesitation, so it seems clear that he was once someone’s pet, and indeed many of the dogs killed for meat are pets stolen from back yards, outside shops and even from cars.

‘COVID-19 precautions add another compelling reason to crack down on dog trade gatherings like this, in addition to the brutal cruelty and criminal activity.’