Animal groups have managed to rescue 135 terrified dogs from this year's infamous Yulin dog meat festival.
It is held every year in China's Guangxi region, where around 50 dogs in each slaughterhouse are inhumanely slaughtered for consumption every day.
In a release by Humane Society International (HSI), Chinese activists with HSI, together with other animal protection groups, negotiated the release of 135 dogs from three facilities in the Yulin suburbs, and captured chilling footage inside one slaughterhouse.
Many of the animals are believed to be strays snatched from the streets, and pets stolen from people's backyards.
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Cellphone footage taken by HSI activists show terrified dogs huddled together in a small, dark, filthy room, with blood on the floor from previous slaughters.
One Chinese activist called Allen told HSI, "What I saw will haunt me for months, I have never seen dogs so scared like these ones. I truly do not understand how the slaughterhouse workers could be so blind to the frightened looks of the dogs waiting for their turn.
"Most of them were small-sized dogs, typical pet dogs, and they were terrified because they had seen the killing of probably 50 dogs that morning."
She says the floor was covered in blood and faeces.
The 135 rescued dogs where immediately taken to a shelter to receive water, food and emergency care.
Chinese and international animal campaigners in Beijing have submitted a letter with 235,000 signatures to call for an end to the annual festival.
In a release, HSI says more than 10 million dogs and 4 million cats are estimated to be killed every year across China for their meat, with thousands set to die at the annual festival in Yulin on June 21.
Newshub.
