With a desire to satiate his craving for dog meat, a man in Sichuan did the unthinkable.

He decided to visit a shelter in the city of Yibin to adopt a dog on the pretext of needing a watchdog, then slaughtered it when he got home.

According to Chinese media, the worker at the shelter felt that something was amiss and proceeded to follow up with the man after the adoption.

However, he was uncontactable and they realised that the information he had provided on the adoption form, such as his address and contact details, was false.

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The shelter launched a police report and after investigations, they tracked the man down and discovered the grisly truth.

It was reported that the man and a male companion of his had killed the dog after the adoption for its meat. In an attempt to cover his tracks, the man also removed the remaining meat from his freezer and buried it.

Upon the discovery of his actions, the man apologised and made a donation of 2,000 yuan (S$400) to the shelter.

The act of consuming dog meat has long been the subject of controversy in China, specifically the annual lychee and dog meat festival in Yulin.

Animal rights activists have been campaigning for the cancellation of the festival on the grounds that the dog meat trade is "inhumane and unhygienic" due to the manhandling of the canines. They highlighted videos of dogs who were caught with wire lassos, transported in small cages and slaughtered with metal rods.

bryanlim@asiaone.com