This is the heartbreaking moment a Chinese woman is forced to say goodbye to her beloved dog, after the pet was allegedly poisoned to death by her neighbors.

Leewen Zhang claims her 'dog hating' neighbors in Yubei, Chongqing, southwest China, had left out chicken meat laced with rat poison on their lawn, which her golden retriever Julie then ate.

Video footage shows Ms Zhang screaming in grief as she holds on to the body of her beloved pet, an eight-year-old service dog she had owned since it was a puppy.

Heartbreaking: Leewen Zhang is seen clinging to the body of her dead service dog Julie, which died just months after they relocated from San Francisco back to her home town in China

Loss: The distressing footage appears to show Julie the golden retriever receiving help from veterinarians while Ms Zhang screams out her grief

Ms Zhang, originally from Chongqing, had been living in San Francisco, California for several years and had recently moved back to her home town for a pit stop before re-locating to Europe with Julie.

Ms Zhang shared the heartbreaking video on social media, alongside a number of photos of her with Julie in happier times to raise awareness of the lack of protection for pets in China.

'My dog Julie, she is the most lovely and gentle being to me,' Ms Zhang wrote in the emotional Facebook post.

'She is my best friend and baby. I love her so much. I got her when she was two months old, she is a golden retriever. She is my assistance dog, authorized by the State of California, U.S.

'I brought her back to Chongqing, China from San Francisco last year, and were planning to go to Europe next year for long term.

Allegations: Ms Zhang claims her neighbours had left out chicken meat laced with rat poison on their lawn, which Julie then ate

Journey together: Julie, who was a service dog and therefore allowed on planes, and Ms Zhang are seen on an airplane before moving to China

Evil attack: Ms Zhang wrote that she had been threatened by at least one of her neighbours several times before she cays her dog was poisoned

'Because she has heart failure, I rented an apartment in a better environment neighborhood in Yubei. Thought it will be helpful for her heart and health.

'We moved in to this place five month ago, but had already heard a lot of people hate dogs here, they curse dogs, they make groups to discuss how to kill dogs… what they think is, the environment should only be for kids, not for any dogs.

'I have a neighbor who used to abuse me and threatened me more than four times, saying that he will kill my dog and all the golden retrievers. I even once called police.

'Julie had just turned eight and was going to come to Europe with me after the Chinese New Year, Unfortunately on last Sunday. She died, she was killed.

Throwback: Ms Zhang included an adorable photo of Julie, who was eight years old when she died, as a little puppy

Best friends: Ms Zhang shared a number of photographs of her with Julie, including selfies and snaps of her carrying the golden retriever

'Because evil people wrapped the rat poison into chicken meat and spread on the lawn Julie loves to go rolling over. She ate one little bite, and died in a few hours with huge pain and suffering.

'I could never forget her scream, her cry and her fight for surviving. It’s been one week after her death. I am still in deep grief and now I am ready to speak for Julie and for all the animals.'

In the Facebook post, shared by more than 54,000 people, Ms Zhang said she would now be campaigning for animal protection laws to be put in place in China.