Sad-eyed animals peering out of rusty crates and from behind the bars of slaughterhouse cages have ignited international calls for the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, in China, to be banned.
For the skinned and gutted carcasses of dogs hanging off butchers' hooks, any hopeful U-turn by the Chinese authorities is already too late.
But there are still 11 weeks before the town of Yulin witnesses the mass slaughter of an estimated 10,000 cats and dogs in its annual ten-day festival to celebrate the summer solstice.
Animal welfare campaigners have released video and photographs, claiming that 300 dogs a day are being killed in the city – with animals being beaten to death close to schools and within earshot of children as as young as six.
Humane Society International China policy specialist Dr Peter Li has produced fresh video and photographic evidence of mass cat and dog slaughter after visiting Yulin in recent days.
HSI says despite local government claims that the killing has ceased, it found three slaughterhouses with animals still wearing collars which shows they were stolen pets.
There were traumatised dogs waiting to be killed in holding pens awash with blood and some were being bludgeoned to death with metal rods in full view of other animals.For Dr Li, the scenes he witnessed will always haunt him.
He said: "This was one of the most harrowing visits I've ever made to Yulin.
"The dogs and cats I saw were visibly traumatised, their spirits broken from their terrifying ordeal.
"It's hard to imagine their mental suffering, watching other dogs being killed, disembowelled and dismembered in front of them.
"It was like a scene from a nightmare that will haunt me forever."From interviews with dog meat traders and residents, HSI estimates around 300 dogs are killed in Yulin daily and there is a "high likelihood" that dogs and cats are being stolen to order to meet demand.
It says at least one truck brings live dogs from other parts of the country to the city every day.
Besides the barbarity, protestors say that China's record of killing as many as 20 million dogs a year for consumption involves criminal activity and poses a serious public health risk, with a risk of spreading cholera and rabies.
The Humane Society International rescued 100 dogs and puppies from a meat farm in South Korea.
(dailystar.co.uk)
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