As we look back at our month in November, it ended with a bang. On November 29th, brave activists were able to locate and shut down another slaughterhouse.
On 11/29, activists spotted a slaughterhouse with pedigree dogs inside about 200km away from Hunan Province. Once they spotted it, they contacted NDLB ally, Zhengzhou Animal Protection Association Frontline Rescue (ZAPAFR), and began coordinating efforts for emergency response.
Our allies are vitally important to our emergency rescue. All direction, guidance, and intelligence are given by Jeffrey and then carried out by the volunteer rescue team from ZAPAFR. Together, we flawlessly executed the slaughterhouse shutdown and saved many lives.
The volunteers and activists gathered throughout the night and attacked at approximately 9 pm at night. Time is of the essence in these rescues because the activists are literally racing against time and death as every minute that goes by, another dog is being slaughtered.
Jumping into action, the activists went in with local enforcement and media demanding the release of the dogs based on the fact that the slaughterhouse owner did not have the proper animal welfare documentation and health certificates for the dogs and also corresponding paperwork for the purchase of the dogs.
There was absolutely no resistance from the slaughterhouse owner as they know that their game is up and they have been caught without proper documentation. There are no negotiations when dealing with the slaughterhouse owner. They either have proper paperwork and certificates or they don’t.
Immediately the dogs were evacuated to five different vets about 150km from where they were rescued. The reason this is done is to reduce the risk of the authorities pulling an NDLB truck over and confiscating the dogs or the butchers retaliating and reporting that the vets are housing illegal dogs. Please remember that large dog breeds are outlawed in East Asia, and many of the dogs we save are outlawed already in East Asia.
A majority of these dogs were pumped with water, in order to increase their weight at the time of the sale. They also use cruel tools such as metal clamps to throw them into the dog meat cages and some get neck trauma from brutal handling by the dog meat traders. These dogs have been beaten, tortured, and some are barely alive. They must have vet care before we can even transport them to our shelter in Beijing.
At the vets, they will get vaccinated and get the much needed crucial care they need. No dogs can enter our shelter without being vaccinated first because we cannot risk contamination to our other dogs at the shelter. The dogs will be at the vets anywhere from 5-10 days to be monitored and must strictly adhere to No Dogs Left Behind’s hospital protocols.
All dogs much go through de-worming: heartworm, ringworm, tapeworm, rip-worm, roundworm before they can come to the Beijing shelter. They also get weighed; full blood work must be done to see if their body is fighting infection; temperature, etc. to determine any clinical signs of illness. The Chinese vets don’t believe in vaccinating so it’s absolutely vital for NDLB to perform all of these treatment protocols in order to get the dogs healthy enough to bring back to the shelter.
Once the dogs are healthy enough to travel, transportation is set up to get the dogs from the vet to the Beijing shelter. The dogs still aren’t out of the woods yet as there still is the possibility of anti-activists and dog meat traders watching retaliating or trying to steal back the dogs! So much careful planning went into the rescue on 11/29, and on all of the rescues.
Once the dogs finally arrived at the No Dogs Left Behind shelter on 12/11, they are closely monitored and watched for behavior issues, health issues, etc. The dogs must adjust to their new life at the shelter until No Dogs Left Behind can get them adopted out to forever loving homes, which is ultimately our final goal.
We are so thankful and grateful for our ally Zhengzhou Animal Protection Association Frontline Rescue for this coordinated effort to once again help shut down these slaughterhouses.
Please continue to help us protect these precious souls who so desperately need our help. Only you can change the lives of these dogs. We can’t leave them alone to suffer and die. We must continue to fight and save as many dogs as we possibly can.
Please support us by giving a donation to help protect these dogs from the brutal meat market trade.
