Dispatch from the frontline of the war against Thailand's medieval dog meat trade - PHOTO+VIDEO

Terrified, outnumbered and cornered after tracking down a cargo of animals hidden in the jungle before being smuggled to neighbouring countries, the police officers appear doomed to pay the ultimate price for meddling in the brutally lucrative dog meat trade.As the tide of panic rises, one officer jumps to his feet from behind the crates and draws his revolver. Firing rapidly into the air, he runs around the clearing shouting out to imaginary colleagues to trick the smugglers into thinking more police are hidden in the undergrowth.The desperate gamble pays off, sending the gunmen into retreat and buying the cornered trio enough time for reinforcements to arrive as the gangsters melt away into the surrounding jungle.This is the frontline of the war against the dog meat trade – a bleak and perilous struggle to stop hundreds of thousands of dogs a year being snatched from the streets and then smuggled and slaughtered in horrendous conditions for their meat.Thousands of miles away, nearly 500,000 people have now signed an online petition calling on the Thai government to outlaw the trade after a harrowing video appeal by Ricky Gervais, Judi Dench and Downton Abbey stars went viral last week.But as a Mail Online investigation in Asia found, bringing an end to the savage trade which claims the lives of millions of dogs a year is a monumental challenge with the lives not only of dogs as stake but also those of the people dedicated to ending the slaughter.With huge profits at stake, the smuggling gangs are ruthlessly switching tactics to ward off the threat to their trade – and have started slaughtering dogs before they leave Thailand to reduce the chances of live cross-border shipments being detected.The industry is reckoned to be worth around £20 million a year in Thailand alone and is driven by highly organised criminal gangs involved not only in the dog meat business but in narcotics and human smuggling.The struggle against the dog meat trade in Thailand is being championed by British-run charity Soi Dog Foundation which commissioned the video appeal and whose chief investigator, Mrs Ha, was caught up in the jungle raid in May which nearly ended in tragedy.A diminutive married woman in her late 40s, Mrs Ha – whose real identity is being kept secret because of the risk of her being targeted by smuggling gangs – has helped in dozens of arrests and the blocking of shipments of thousands of dogs in the past year alone.Her efforts are focussed in the lawless Tha Rae area of northern Thailand where stolen dogs are caged in secluded jungle areas before being smuggled across the border to Laos and then on to Vietnam where an estimated five million dogs a year are eaten.It was in the jungle near Tha Rae that Mrs Ha found herself surrounded by the armed gang. 'Of course I'm scared about what might happen to me but I can't give up and I'm going to carry on with this fight,' she told Mail Online calmly.'The dog meat trade has deep roots in Thailand. It has been here for a long time and powerful, dangerous people run the business. It will not stop easily.'(dailymail.co.uk)Bakudaily.Az