Dozens of dogs rescued from China´s slaughterhouses arrived by Air China plane in New York and met their new loving and adoptive families.
On Friday, 34 rescued dogs arrived and were greeted by their new owners at JFK Airport in New York. There were pomeranians, dachshunds, poodles, retrievers, corgis, and mixed breeds – all were waiting for their new owners to take them home. Video footage shows the Americans greeting the dogs as they were offloaded from the plane. Moreover, it shows the dogs getting water and treats and bonding with the Americans adopting them.
No Dog Left Behind, a canine rescue organization with a shelter in Beijing, has been saving dogs from the dog meat trade in China. Slaughterhouses and wet markets kill animals and sell their meat. The canine rescue organization has been targeting the illegal slaughterhouses and traffickers and threaten to report them to the authorities if they release the dogs.
Jeff Beri, the leader of No Dogs Left Behind stated that 34 survivors have landed from China´s brutal slaughterhouses and traffickers.
On Saturday, another 45 dogs are scheduled to arrive in New York. Two flights had to be organized to be able to supply enough oxygen for the dogs. Moreover, Jeff Beri, the founder of the canine organization, said that they are planning to bring another 135 dogs at the beginning of the next year. They have saved thousands of dogs since 2017. Namely, when animal activists hear about a planned illegal transport of dogs to slaughterhouses, they take immediate actions. They surround the tracks transporting the dogs and request an immediate release if they do not possess documentation or proof dogs’ health and quarantine. They threaten to call the authorities if they do not release the dogs. As there are high fines, the transporters agree to release the dogs.
Recently, due to the coronavirus pandemic, a great number of families had to leave their dogs or sold them to butchers in fear that the police would detain the dogs. In other words, it was considered that dogs can carry the virus and transport it to humans.
Unfortunately, nine dogs died before they were transported to New York City. Their deaths are currently being investigated.
China has no animal welfare laws and beating or killing a dog is not illegal. Anyone can go out and kill a dog. No country should allow that to happen. Beri is actively trying to make Chinese government officials bring animal welfare laws and prohibit the dog meat trade once and for all. He also pointed to the Chinese wet markets, where the pandemic is considered to have started, as the main reason why the country has to change its laws.
He added that his canine rescue organization believes that no country has the right to slaughter and trade animals and any country that does should be boycotted and sanctioned because a new pandemic may be coming. Moreover, Beri said that while they were fighting for a vaccine, no one was fighting for change
