Dog fitted with cruel 2lbs steel neck shackle that was 'slowly throttling it a little more each day' is rescued

A dog was found, fitted with a neck shackle that was slowly throttling it each day as the animal grew



It is believed the collar, which weighed more than 2lbs, was fitted when the dog was younger

The dog was found in northern China



Police are searching for the culprits

Animal cruelty is not yet illegal in China







A dog fitted with a heavy steel neck shackle that was ‘slowly throttling it a little more each day’ has been rescued in China.

The dog is believed to have been fitted with the quarter-inch thick metal collar, which weighed more than 2lbs, when it was younger.

Police are now looking for the culprits of this animal cruelty after the dog was found wandering the streets of Taiyuan in Shanxi province, northern China.

Throttled each day: This dog was found with a neck shackle that was 'slowly throttling it a little more each day' as the animal grew

One rescue worker said: ‘As the dog grew, the collar got tighter and tighter throttling the dog a little more each day.’

Firefighers cut the collar off and the animal is now recovering in a refuge centre.

Police believe the dog may have been kept as a guard dog or working animal until its collar made it too difficult to keep.

A police spokesman said: ‘This cruelty has been brought to our attention and we are trying to find the culprits.’

Neck shackle: Firefighters cut off the cruel collar which weighed more than 2lbs

Working dog: The animal is believed to have been kept as a guard dog or working animal until the collar made it too difficult to keep

China is yet to make animal cruelty illegal and dogs are still eaten in many parts of the country despite a growing anti-cruelty campaign.

While many Chinese enjoy rich dog meat, especially during cold winters, some object to the practice in some regions of beating dogs to death to release the blood into the meat.

Earlier this year, animal welfare volunteers and police in Chongqing, south-west China, discovered more than 1,500 malnourished and dehydrated dogs loaded inside cages so small they could not stand up.



The animals were on trucks bound for the slaughterhouse and many were so frail they would not even have survived the 22-hour journey.

Volunteers took them to a nearby farm where they were given food, water and emergency medical treatment, but many were too frail to survive.

Although the Chinese were the first to domesticate the dog and keep them as pets, dog meat has been a source of food from at least the time of Confucius, and possibly even before.



Cruel: Animal cruelty in China is not yet illegal and dog is still eaten in many parts of the country. These animal welfare volunteers discovered these dogs bound for the slaughterhouse, cramped in small cages



Rescue workers lift the cages from the truck which was stopped at a toll by highway police