Video footage shows a dog apparently being blow torched alive ahead of an annual dog meat festival in China.

As many as 15,000 dogs are tortured, killed and cooked to be sold at Yulin Lychee and Dog Meat Festival every year.

Canine meat is considered a delicacy in China, where about £10m worth of dogs and £4m cats are sold for their meat annually.

But 1.5 million people have now signed a petition calling for an end to the cruel festival.

Claire Bass, UK director of Humane Society International (HSI), said: “Yulin is one relatively small example of a much larger, uglier issue that thousands of dedicated Chinese activists are working to stop.

In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade Show all 13 1 / 13 In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade China A cat climbs up the cage at the slaughterhouse, trying to escape. This cat was later rescued by Peter Li In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade China A slaughterhouse butcher transfers a cat to a cage, to be handed off to Peter Li. Shortly after, Li rescued the cat from the slaughterhouse AP/Humane Society International In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade China Two kitchen knives are shown stuck in an iron cage, which are used to butcher dozens of dogs and cats every day. These knives have to be sharpened daily due to the number of animals they're used to slaughter In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade China Caged dogs sit on the side of Renminzhong Road, waiting to be transferred to a slaughterhouse in a narrow alley AP/Humane Society International In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade China Workers are shown getting the day's dog and cat meat prepared for sale in the morning In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade China Dog meat is displayed in the marketplace In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade China Residents pick their dog meat from a stand on Riverside Road In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade China A woman on her moped transports more than 10 dogs, which had just been slaughtered, to her market shop for sale AP/Humane Society International In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade China Hundreds of pet dogs await their own death in a slaughterhouse, while they watch as their companions are slaughtered in front of them AP/Humane Society International In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade China A group of cats from Sichuan Province arrive at Renmin Middle Road on a truck, and wait to be transported on carts to a slaughterhouse in a narrow alley In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade China A truck arrives in Yulin with nearly 1,000 dogs of various breeds crammed into narrow wire cages with no space to extend their limbs. According to the driver, the truck came from Sichuan, 800 miles west of Yulin. The traumatized dogs waited in silence for the next stop on their journey In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade China Dogs are hung up for sale for meat in Dong Kou market, as a dog looks on In pictures: Inside the Yulin cat and dog meat trade China Peter Li holds a puppy's collar found at a slaughterhouse AP/Humane Society International

“Contrary to the assumptions by many in the West, most people in China don’t eat dogs and in fact they are horrified at the thought of a trade that takes their canine companions away from them.”

Sending her support for the petition, actress Dame Judi Dench said: “It fills me with sadness to think that the Yulin dog meat festival is just around the corner again.

“So I wanted to send this message as a symbol of my solidarity with all the thousands of people in China against the dog meat trade, who love their dogs and cats just as much as we do, but who go through the awful heart ache of having them stolen by dog thieves.”

Most dogs and cats caught up in China’s meat trade are believed to be strays snatched from the streets and stolen pets, according to HSI.

Dogs and cats are typically bludgeoned to death in front of each other, put into a de-hairing machine to remove fur, and then blow-torched for sale to markets, the organisation said.

The animals are also still sometimes slaughtered in public places.

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Thousands descend on the festival on 21 June each summer to celebrate the summer solstice – the longest day of the year.

According to folklore, eating the meat during the summer months brings luck and good health.

Some also believe dog meat can ward off diseases and heighten men’s sexual performance.

Cat meat, fresh lychees and liquor are also available at the 10-day event.

Just five days before this year’s festival, Chinese animal activists managed to rescue 62 dogs from a Yulin slaughterhouse.