China: Dogs rescued from dog meat markets

[Resurgence]

Yuan Yuan's Story:


An American Eskimo Dog, likely a stolen pet, was spotted outside a dog meat store in north-eastern China's Jilin Province last October. She held out her paw to a passerby.

The pedestrian, who happens to be a local animal lover, adopted her and they have lived together happily ever since.



Viral footage from Douyin, the Chinese version of Tik Tok, shows a frightened dog giving her paw to a stranger.







The touching story came to light last week after the dog's current owner shared the video on social media to urge the government to pass laws to protect animals.

The video, which has gone viral, shows the sad-looking dog hesitating to extend her right foreleg in the beginning.

But after a couple of seconds, she decided to give her paw to the stranger in a trusting manner.


The dog has lived with her new human friend since last October in a loving home in Jilin. The kind individual said the dog likes smiling at people.







The dog was bound to what seemed like a metal frame with an iron chain and appeared frightened.

"See how scared it was while waiting to be butchered at the dog meat store, and how hopeful it looked [while waiting for a human to save it]," the owner wrote last Saturday in a post on Douyin, the Chinese version of Tik Tok.

The owner called on authorities to establish legislation "as soon as possible" to ban people in China from abusing animals.

The dog, which has been named Yuan Yuan, met her savior on October 26, and the trending clip was uploaded nearly a year after its rescue.

Other footage on its owner's Douyin account shows Yuan Yuan is now a sweet and joyful dog.

Wendy Higgins from animal welfare group Humane Society International (HSI) believes that Yuan Yuan might have been snatched from her former owner before being transported to Jilin.

Ms Higgins says dogs and cats across Asia need robust laws to protect them from the meat trade.

"That is the only way to stop them suffering," she noted.

Lily's Story:



Humane Society International saved a similar-looking dog in the same month in Jilin, China.



HSI's China policy specialist Dr Peter Li is pictured squatting down to interact with the dog.



Coincidentally, a dog looking remarkably similar to Yuan Yuan was rescued by HSI last October outside a dog meat store in Jilin with nearly identical surroundings.

The dirty and matted dog, now living with her owner in the United States, was tied up and lying on the mud floor, looking as though she had lost all hope.

She was found by HSI's China policy specialist Dr Peter Li and responded eagerly for attention when Dr Li and his friends squatted down to interact with her.

Dr Li negotiated with the store's owner, who agreed to let her go.

HSI said the dog, which has been named Lily, left with Dr Li and his friends happily and jumped enthusiastically into their car.

While bathing, grooming and feeding Lily, vets discovered she was not only friendly but also knew how to open doors - signs that she was likely a stolen pet.


Lily now has a loving home in Illinois, US.







Chinese animal welfare organisations, activists as well as state-run media outlets have been urging the country's leaders to pass their first law against animal abuse.

Two Chinese cities, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, have banned residents from eating dogs and cats in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has signaled that it could ban dog meat from the dinner table nationwide after classifying dogs as companion animals instead of farm animals in May. However, no official directive has been issued yet.

While China has laws to safeguard land-based and aquatic wildlife, it currently lacks legislation to protect animal welfare or prevent animal abuse.



Dogs locked on a truck on the outskirts of Beijing on April 8, 2006, likely destined for slaughter.




China's Central Television last week called on the government to pass the country's first animal protection law "as soon as possible" in a rare move from an official media outlet.

The state-run TV station appealed after a man was caught killing a stray cat with boiling water on the street.

"Admittedly, anti-social acts like this cat abuser are the absolute minority in any society," Dr Li from HSI told MailOnline.

"However, an act of such cruelty has a traumatizing impact on the wider society, and if tolerated it risks leading to the desensitization of people or worse still, copycat acts of cruelty," he added.

"That is why animal cruelty should be strictly prohibited by law around the globe."

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...China.html