Undercover footage released by national nonprofit Last Chance for Animals (LCA) has exposed horrific cruelty at large commercial slaughterhouses in Northern China.
The video and accompanying PSA, narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Kim Basinger, is the first in a series of LCA investigations showing dogs in Jilin Province in China sold, transported, and killed in ways that cause incredible suffering.
Last Chance for Animals travelled to China and worked with a local team to expose dog slaughter and generate a groundswell of opposition to the cruel industry. In many cities across the country, the industry relies on criminal gangs to steal pets from families, while others are of unknown origin – a potential human health hazard. Dogs are not an approved species under China’s food safety slaughter regulations, so facilities like these never operate legally.
The recent investigation focused on two slaughterhouses outside the city of Changchun that were under scrutiny from authorities. Local Chinese citizens learned of the massive number of dogs being killed daily and brought evidence of illegal slaughter to their attention.
Officials from the Animal Health Bureau, acting with local police, ordered the largest slaughterhouse to cease operations after visiting the facility and discovering workers processing hundreds of dogs for meat. The owners faced fines as well as an order to cease operations. Another slaughterhouse in the same area stopped operating after learning of the crackdown. These two operations were responsible for hundreds of thousands of dogs killed each year in the region, which is home to many dog meat restaurants.
Last Chance for Animals investigative footage documents:
• transport trucks full of dogs arriving for slaughter wearing collars signifying their status as family pets
• dogs being dragged from transport cages by their necks with metal tongs
• dogs repeatedly clubbed over the head and having their throats slit while fully conscious
• a mother dog beaten to death as she cowered over top of her puppies in an attempt to save them
To view the undercover video footage visit: www.stopdogmeat.com. (WARNING: Contains graphic images).
“LCA appreciates the Chinese provincial authorities, police, and regulatory agencies that took swift action when presented with the evidence, and we look forward to continuing this work to expose animal cruelty and hold abusers accountable,” said Adam Wilson, Director of Investigations for Last Chance for Animals. “This summer, the Yulin dog meat festival attracted international news coverage, and condemnation from abroad as well as China’s growing middle class, which is largely opposed to dog slaughter. It’s shocking to witness dogs beaten to death at a slaughterhouse, and see livestock trucks full of pets, but we must also see it as an opportunity to urge for greater animal protection standards in China.”
“When I heard about the brutal dog meat industry in China I was shocked to learn that there are no animal cruelty laws to protect them or any other animal,” Basinger said after watching the footage, “Every second of every minute of every day the cruelty is ongoing, with over 10 million dogs killed each year.”
Basinger and LCA are calling for China to adopt a nationwide animal cruelty law that would create penalties for cruel treatment of any animal. Currently animals in China have no protection from the brutal acts documented in the investigation, and food safety and disease prevention regulations prohibiting the slaughter of animals without veterinary inspection are only applied due to pressure from activists. LCA is working for the passage of an animal cruelty law before the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
