Countering the horrors of Asian dog meat trade

In Southeast Asian countries, dogs are slaughtered for consumption. This encourages illegal activities and negatively impacts animal welfare, public health, and attempts to eliminate rabies. Furthermore, these dogs are boiled and skinned alive, violently beaten, choked, and burned due to the belief that the more the dog suffers, the better the meat tastes. Besides these cruel methods of torment, dogs also suffer from extreme temperatures and starvation.

To counter this, many associations, such as Soi Dog Foundation, Humane Society, and Asia Canine Protection Alliance, educate the public of the realities of the dog meat trade and rescue many tortured dogs from these areas. Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation is one of the organizations that goes directly into the dog farms in order to rescue these animals.

Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation was founded by Marc Ching. This organization rescues dogs and brings them to America, where they are prepared for adoption. During the interview, Ching explained that he disguises himself as a rich businessman trying to buy dog meat. He goes into the factories and secretly film the torments to show to the public. He then convinces the factory owners to give him dogs to “try”. He then immediately takes these tortured dogs into emergency rooms.

During the interview he stated that he faced many dangers. He was beaten and shot before.

“I would assume that I would die doing this [rescuing dogs] until a law gets passed,” he stated.

When asked as to why he risks his safety for the sake of the dogs, he stated, “We [the organization] are trying to show how important the dogs are in our lives and how they can teach us to love better […] and to give more to others.”

Currently, he is planning his trip to Yulin, China, where the annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival is held. During this festival, 10,000 to 15,000 dogs are paraded in small cages and are skinned and burned alive. He, along with many other supporters, are going to riot this festival and convince the government to outlaw the trade in and torment of dogs.

To support Ching’s cost, you could go to the Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation website and donate. You could also go to the shelter and volunteer there by washing and walking the dogs.