Chinese police have intercepted a truck bring 386 dogs to slaughter at the yearly dog-meat eating festival in the southerly Chinese city of Yulin, which was arranged to begin on Tuesday– the day of the summer solstice.

Video from the scene revealed the dogs were stuffed right into wire cages in poor problems. On finding the vehicle last weekend, animal rights’ activists worried that a few of them may be struggling with infectious diseases. So they reported the vehicle to the police, citing the nation’s legislations on epidemic prevention.

Lin Xiong, among the activists that saw the vehicle being pulled over by the police, said: “It was scary to see a lot of canines in such an dreadful state, it was like a truck from hell for these poor animals … The dog meat slaughter brings shame on our country and so we will maintain fighting until we see an end to this suffering.”

Ahead of this year’s Yulin dog meat festival, which attracts a small crowd in the city, Chinese activists located creative ways to save dogs from being killed.

Xiao He, a Shaanxi-based animal legal rights activist, said he had actually worked for weeks with fellow activists to go through China’s existing laws and regulations to persuade the authorities to stop the event from happening.

” There are policies that express just how to handle animals, for example legally required quarantine evaluation certificates. But clearly those who brought the dogs did not comply with the policies. We have to remind them in addition to the authorities [of those policies],” He said.

In 2020, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said canines are not “livestock” for consuming, however rather companion animals.

Campaigners that have actually been involved in saving the dogs on board claimed they were of different breeds, sizes and wellness problems. They said they were probably stolen family guard dogs or pets, strays grabbed from the streets, or came from other unknown sources without traceability.

After the authorities treatment over the weekend, the dogs were sent out to be quarantined. Chinese activists told the Guardian that the canines have actually now been handed over to Beijing’s Capital Animal Welfare Organization, after the investors signed an agreement to relinquish their ownership of the animals.

Peter Li, China plan expert at Humane Society International, a project group, claimed the Yulin authorities were “duped” by the traders who have falsely argued that dog meat consumption is “traditional” and part of the local dietary culture. “Dog meat consumption is supply-driven, driven by the traders, not consumer-driven. The dog slaughter in Yulin is commercial in nature, not cultural,” he said.

Li said that his team on the ground saw Yulin police trying to avoid business owners from making a show of the “festival”.

” Eaters from outside Guangxi used to be sizeable prior to 2014. This group has dropped drastically particularly since 2020. Many eaters are local and the number has been dwindling.”