More than 400 dogs at risk of being slaughtered for the meat trade in China have been rescued by a Lincolnshire charity in the past two years.
Kerry Elliman, from Bin brook, near Market Rasen, runs Candy’s Hound Rescue, which works with shelters in China to welcome dogs to the UK.
She said many people were beaten, starved or locked in small cages. “I didn’t try to give up dog meat because I knew it wouldn’t happen,” she said.
“It’s an education issue.” “It raises awareness about things that people don’t know,” Ms. Elliman added The Humane Society International/UK says most people in China and across Asia do not eat dog meat and opposition to the dog meat trade is growing due to animal cruelty and risks to human health, such as the spread of diseases such as rabies.
They are working with a Chinese group called Vshine, which is campaigning across Asia to end the dog and cat meat trade.
In June this year, Vshine rescued 19 dogs from an illegal slaughterhouse on the outskirts of Yulin, a week before the city’s annual dog meat festival, in which thousands of dogs and cats are killed and eat meat.
One of the dogs rescued by Candy’s Hound Rescue is Tang Tang, who was rescued from a slaughterhouse. She had been hit repeatedly on the head and had untreated diabetes, meaning she would soon have to have an eye removed.
“She was rescued from the dog meat trade, she was in the slaughter house,” Ms. “She had all these scars on her back. What they do to weigh them – especially hounds – is tie a rope around their legs and weigh them.
“She explained that many dogs used in the illegal meat trade are “skinned alive or boiled alive” in the hope that the meat will taste better.
“I understand that bringing them to this country won’t save [all of them], but it will save the ones we save,” she said.
Wendy Higgins, of the Humane Society International/UK, said there is a“dedicated and growing animal protection movement in China”.
“[Our] Chinese partner team works tirelessly year-round to save thousands of dogs and cats from the meat trade, working with law enforcement to stop trafficked animals packed into trucks and helped shut down illegal slaughterhouses, giving life to rescued animals -saving on treatment and rehabilitation,” she said.
“We recently supported the launch in China of an information line for people to report illegal dog and cat meat trade activities, which has proven to be effective in closing restaurants and slaughterhouses operating in many places across the country. “