A 22-year-old student who adopted three slaughterhouse survivor dogs has revealed their transformation after escaping the Chinese dog meat trade.

Skye Wardle, of Minsterworth, Gloucestershire, has taken the three animals into her care over the past three years - first adopting Clover in November 2016.

The golden retriever was starved, left dehydrated and contracted pneumonia and canine distemper after being rescued from a dog slaughterhouse in Changchun.

Golden retriever Bonnie was abandoned in Beijing (left), but he is now doing much better after being taken in by animal welfare assistant Skye Wardle in Gloucestershire (right)

Nellie is a Samoyed dog who was rescued from a puppy mill that bred the animals for dog meat and was set on fire. She was treated for burns (left) and has recovered from her ordeal (right)

Animal welfare assistant Miss Wardle then adopted another golden retriever, Bonnie, in March 2018 who was abandoned in Beijing, covered in sores and lice.

She also had distemper, which has an 80 per cent fatality rate in puppies, and was left with myoclonus and involuntary muscle spasms causing a neurological tic.

Eight months later, Miss Wardle found out about Nellie, a Samoyed dog who was rescued from a puppy mill that bred the animals for dog meat - and was set on fire.

The pregnant dog survived the blaze and she was treated by a vet for her burns before giving birth to eight puppies. Seven survived and are they now in the US.

Now, Miss Wardle has helped care for her three rescue dogs and is hoping to raise awareness of the benefits of rescuing and adopting pets instead of buying them.

Miss Wardle has helped care for her three rescue dogs, including Nellie (pictured together)

Nellie survived the blaze at the puppy mill and she was treated by a vet for her burns before giving birth to eight puppies. Seven survived (pictured) and are they now in the US

Miss Wardle, whose mother Julie, 51, works for animal charities, said: 'We are all animal lovers and have always had lots of pets including dogs and horses.

Nellie, a Samoyed dog who has been rescued

'We have always known about the Chinese dog meat trade and Yulin [dog meat festival], as it's publicly spoken about by celebrities such as Simon Cowell and Ricky Gervais.

'But we never thought we'd be able to adopt a dog from the meat trade. A friend of ours rescued a Spanish street dog from Rushton Dog Rescue and we saw their Facebook page.

'We saw they had started a project rescuing dogs from the Chinese dog meat trade, so I contacted them and was surprised to find out they had a golden retriever.

'We saw photos of him and immediately wanted him. Clover arrived in the UK in December 2016 and we went to Rushton Dog Rescue's farm in Somerset to meet him once he had been there a few days to settle.

'We adored him and signed the adoption papers and took him home that day. It was the same with Bonnie and Nellie - we agreed to adopt them and waited for them to pass quarantine and fly to the UK.

Miss Wardle adopted Clover in November 2016 (left) and has nursed her back to health (right)

Golden retriever Clover was starved, left dehydrated and contracted pneumonia and canine distemper after being rescued from a dog slaughterhouse in Changchun, China

'The adoption process was very easy. We contacted Rushton Dog Rescue and explained we had always had golden retrievers in the family, they recommended Clover to us and we knew we wanted him immediately.

Bonnie is pictured snuggling up to Miss Wardle after being rescued from China

Miss Wardle told how Clover, Bonnie and Nellie have compatible personalities, which has made the transition easier - although they all needed plenty of human love.

She said: 'Clover is the sweetest boy, he is quiet, friendly and sensitive. I would say he is the most affected by the abuse he has been through, as they are manhandled and beaten, thrown around by metal poles around their necks in slaughterhouses.

'He is a cuddly boy but loves his own space and loves his walks where we he can walk for miles on his own exploring.

'Bonnie is a larger than life, hilarious character. She is small from stunted growth from her starvation as a puppy, but she makes up for it in personality.

'She is loud, loves to bark and play fight, she is funny and a real tough cookie, gets bowled over and trampled by the other two when playing and gets back up and carries on every time.

'She is the little boss, always starts the play fighting and is fiercely independent, even though she needs a lot of help and support with her myoclonus.

Bonnie (left) with Clover (right) and Nellie (centre) have all been taken in by Miss Wardle

The three rescue dogs, who now all live in Gloucestershire, enjoy their time on the beach

'She has definitely come out of her shell and changed the most since we adopted her, she was quiet and frail at first, very weak and her tic was very bad to the point she could barely sleep or stay crouched to go to the toilet. She has blossomed and grown into an amazing character.

'Nellie is a typical Samoyed and has been from the beginning. She has the 'Sammy spirit' and Sammy smile, is endlessly happy and adores her life.

'She absolutely loves chasing her ball and running, walking lots and cuddling up to us at night. Her and Bonnie have a special bond we noticed straight away.'

Speaking about the positives of adopting dogs, she said: 'We would just like to raise awareness of the dog meat trade and rescuing and urge people to adopt instead of buying dogs.

'People have a common misconception that rescue dogs are difficult, problematic, or always cross-breeds and undesirable breeds who aren't family friendly.'