Dog skin produced in the slaughterhouses are used in products, labelled real leather, destined for export to the West, according to an animal rights group.

Footage taken by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) shows workers stood by a door at a slaughterhouse in the northern province of Hebei. As dogs are led through the door, the men kill them with a heavy stick. Sometimes it takes several blows to finish off the unwitting animals.

Meathooks sway grimly in the foreground of the upsetting footage. PETA Asia's investigator saw workers peel the skin off dogs who were still alive. 

PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk said: 'PETA is sure that Britain, Australia and the U.S. are not exempt from the dog leather trade.

'Many British high-street retailers are importing cheap leather from China, so products made from dog skin are almost certainly on the shelves and in people's wardrobes.

'Skin looks the same, whoever it comes from, and Chinese dog killers are not likely to advertise their skins honestly, so it's impossible to tell if those leather gloves or wallets are made out of dog, cow, pig, or goat skin.

'PETA is calling on British shoppers to consider the terror that dogs and other animals endure when they're mercilessly slaughtered and make the safe, vegan choice in clothing and accessories for the holidays and every day.'

Without conducting expensive DNA tests, it is virtually impossible to know exactly what kind of animal leather is made from.

The organisation said it visited three slaughterhouses and six processing plants in central China during a year-long investigation into the slaughter of dogs and the production of dog skin. 

(dailymail.co.uk)