PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A major dog meat festival is coming up in China, and a local rescue called Big Dog Ranch Rescue is trying to save dogs from slaughter there.
Rosie, a 2-year-old Malamute, is one of some 300 dogs already rescued from China. They’re crammed into cages on truck beds when they were saved on the way to Yulin Dog Meat Festival.
“That is a 10-day event in their culture that is pure hell for the animals. They celebrate the summer solstice by eating dog meat,” adoptions manager Debbie Hilton said in an interview.
The festival starts soon, on June 21st.
“This is time sensitive and we need your help,” Hilton said.
This would be Big Dog Rescue’s 4thtrip to China recently, to keep dogs off of the dinner plate, and instead help them find a loving home in the United States.
“They are boiling them alive; they are skinning them alive; they believe the more horrible the death, the more adrenaline released into the meat and better for them the consumer. It is just dreadful,” Hilton said.
Between now and the 21st, they need to create space at the safe holding place in China that’s already at its 150-dog capacity, by flying them here.
They’re still looking to raise tens of thousands of dollars to make it happen.
You can find Big Dog Ranch rescue online, on Facebook or their website.