Saved from the dinner table: Activists rescue more than 500 caged dogs destined for restaurants in China



Crammed into tiny cages and enduring appalling conditions, these dogs had been destined for restaurant tables in China.

But they were saved from that fate after activists intercepted the truck carrying them.

Many of the 505 creatures had barely survived their terrible ordeal, having endured cramped conditions and a lack of water during their near 1,000 mile journey by road.

Barbaric: The dogs were discovered crammed into tiny cages on the back of a truck in Kunming, China

Suffering: Activists arrived too late to save around 11 of the dogs which had already died under the terrible conditions

Saved: Volunteers provided the dogs with water and food which they had been deprived of because of the narrow space in the truck

Rescue: The activists stopped a truck carrying 505 dogs on Puji road on Thursday evening Some of the huge markets which sell dogs and cats to restaurants for slaughter and human consumption, came under international spot light several years ago after being the suspected origin of the deadly SARS virus. It is not uncommon for dogs, as well as other animals, to be crammed so tightly together into tiny metal cages they cannot even bark - an environment ripe for the spread of disease.

In one of the large markets, on a 60 acre site in Guangzhou, China, cages of dogs and cats - some of them bred as domestic pets - are piled high and when an animal is chosen for sale it is bludgeoned with an iron bar until it is close to death before, being handed over to the purchaser.

Business: The dogs in this case had a fortunate escape but the trade in dog meat means many more animals are not as lucky

Sickening: Many of the animals showed signs of the appalling conditions in which there were transported - including dehydration and other injuries

Fate: The driver of the truck told police he employed to transport dogs to a restaurant in Yulin city in south China's Guangxi province