Rescue Delivers Dozens of Pups from Horrific Upcoming Chinese Dog Meat Festival

By Amanda Thomason June 2, 2021 at 4:10pm

If you have any familiarity with the dog rescue world, you’re probably aware that there have been ongoing efforts to rescue dogs from other countries and bring them to the states. Probably the best-known is the rescue of dogs from the terrors of the meat trade in China.

Dog lovers around the world have teamed up to help get at-risk dogs into loving homes where they will be cared for and treated like pets, not mistreated and butchered. The Yulin Dog Meat Festival in China is coming up on June 21, and China Rescue Dogs is working especially hard to save dogs so they won’t be subjected to the festival. According to People, the organization’s mission is “saving dogs from the slaughterhouses, meat trade, abuse, and neglect in China.”

But a wrench was thrown in the works, and rescuers have had to pivot to continue their work. China Rescue Dogs told People that matters have been complicated lately because customs authorities in China are not allowing dogs to be exported to the U.S.

China Rescue Dogs is featured in “PEOPLE.” We are finally revealing why we have been so quite about our current rescue operations.

Be part of our fundraising team by creating your own fundraising effort. https://t.co/MAbg5uhXi4 @rickygervais @dodo @TheEllenShow pic.twitter.com/EhD75BkFh3

— China Rescue Dogs (@CRD69196083) June 2, 2021

But they are allowing dogs to be exported to Canada — so the rescue moved its operations to Washington state and set up a satellite office in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Thanks to the rescue’s quick work and generous donors, 181 dogs have been saved. (According to People, hundreds of dogs are slaughtered every year at Yulin’s festival.)

It’s an expensive endeavor. The rescue’s website states that it costs about $2,500 to $3,500 to rescue a dog from China, and safe transport alone for 26 dogs costs a staggering $52,000.

We are frantically trying to save as many dogs as we can before the Yulin Dog Meat festival begins on the Summer Solstice. Become a fundraiser for CRD!

It is very simple.https://t.co/qC8BEaky4K pic.twitter.com/vkUpZp7xHA

— China Rescue Dogs (@CRD69196083) May 25, 2021

Jill Stewart, the founder and president of the rescue, explained how she and her team were able to maneuver around the restrictions during their most recent efforts.

“We flew the dogs into Vancouver first, where they cleared Canadian Customs,” Stewart said. “We then loaded the dogs up into cargo vans, crossed the border at Blaine, Washington, where they then cleared U.S. Customs.

“We then drove the rescues to Seattle where they spent the night at a Pet Spa before flying out on Alaskan Air the next day to their forever families across the United States.”

They’ve saved many dogs, but they’re not done yet and are rushing to save as many more as they can before the festival. They are in desperate need of funds to continue, though, and state on their Facebook page that they haven’t even reached 25 percent of their goal.

“It was and still is an enormous undertaking,” Stewart continued. “But the sleepless nights, and the days and weeks of paperwork, are worth it once you see their happy faces and wagging tails.

“We made a commitment and a promise to save these dogs from going to Yulin, and we are doing everything we can to make sure they can live the rest of their days with love and without fear.”

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