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Nearly 800 dogs were rescued by a Chinese animal protection group last Saturday night in the city of Zigong, in southwest Sichuan province.

The Qiming Center, an animal-rights protection group in Sichuan, pulled off the rescue. Last Friday night, a volunteer tipped off the group that hundreds of caged dogs were being loaded onto trucks in Zigong and headed to various restaurants in Southern Guangxi province. The group dispatched a team of five to block the dog-trader while they posted microblogs online calling for help from animal-loving citizens.

After a standoff and negotiation, the group agreed to pay the dog trader 83,000 yuan ($13,000) to secure the caged dog's freedom, said Qiming president Qiao Wei.



"It's a compromise we took in an effort to let the dogs free—they are visibly suffering for being packed in small cages with very limited space. We spent hours negotiating with the trader," Qiao told CNN in a phone interview. "Finally with the help of local government he was willing to hand over the dogs in exchange for 83,000 yuan—60,000 for personal compensation, another 20,000 for cages that we lack."

Qiming volunteers are now helping settle down the dogs, according to state-run media.

Dog meat has long been a popular dish in certain regions of China. But over time this cultural and culinary tradition is getting more and more unpopular, as international and Chinese animal protection organizations increase pressure against the dog meat trade.

Most dogs rescued Saturday were severely dehydrated. Rescuers photographed and registered the dogs before tending to their health. "It's a costly work but workers at the center are trying their best to take care of the dogs. Since their arrival, only one dog has died due to respiration system failure," Qiao told CNN

Ms Teng, a Qiming Center employee, said four full-time staff have been working round the clock. On the center's official blog, the group frequently updates the dogs' latest conditions and solicits donations or voluntary assistance from animal lovers.

"Some dogs were stolen, and now their owners come to us to take back their pets. Many would leave with a certain amount of money as appreciation for our work," Teng told CNN. "Once we've finished the health check up procedures, we'll start helping the dogs find new homes."

Teng says through the rescue she and her fellow volunteers hope to send the general public one message: "No trading, no killing." Meanwhile, dog trading remains rife in certain regions in China due to lack of a national law on animal welfare and protection.

"A major part of our work is proposing drafts of laws and regulations under which the government can effectively punish this kind of behavior," Qiao added. "Now we can only tackle the traders one at a time, and can hardly tell whether they'll go back to the business again."

In April 520 dogs were saved from dinner table by Chinese animal-rights activists who stopped a truck carrying them in cages on a highway near Beijing. A 15-hour standoff between volunteers and the trader caused a temporary shut-down of nearby exits, until an agreement was reached. The truck driver let the dogs free for 115,000 yuan. The incident stirred online discussions about how far activists should go in protecting animal rights—a concept still under debate in China. http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/20/world/asia/china-dog-meat-rescue/index.h
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How dogs are viewed is undergoing a major shift in China, and nowhere are the conflicting attitudes more evident than in Shenzhen, a city in a part of the country where dog meat is commonly eaten. Except for the occasional mutt, King Glory Plaza is a purebred showcase, as dogs have become a status symbol for many residents with newfound disposable income.

Pang Yan said that all dogs in her hometown in rural Sichuan province were working farm dogs. After coming to Shenzhen to find work, she purchased Shunliu, a wide-eyed, obedient golden retriever who sleeps in her bed with her.

"I understand dogs better than I used to," she says. "I understand that dogs need company from friends and their owners. They also need their owner's love, care and respect."



When Shenzhen housewife Zhang Lin was growing up in rural Guangdong province, her family kept guard dogs, some of which were slaughtered for meat during the Lunar New Year.

Now she is the owner of Dou-dou, a high-energy miniature poodle she bought for 4,000 yuan ($626), more than triple this southern Chinese city's monthly minimum wage. She never eats dog meat and treats Dou-dou like her child.

"Growing up, we always had dogs around, but their purpose was [for] meat and guarding the house," Zhang said. "Dou-dou is my companion."

This new coddling of dogs as pets does not mean the old custom of eating dog meat has disappeared. Type the Chinese character for dog, gou, into an iPhone, and predictive text will offer you meat, rou, as a logical follow-up character.

Restaurants specializing in dog cuisine -- which advertise the health and tradition of the canine meat -- line bustling Shenzhen night markets.

One man who sells in-demand breeds at a pet store in Dongmen says his career of selling dogs hasn't changed his outlook on eating dog meat.

"How is it any different from eating any other animal?" he says. "It's just the same as beef."

But some dog owners recoil at the thought.

"I have eaten dog meat, once when I was young," says Pang, the owner of golden retriever Shunliu. "But now I could never eat dog meat. When others eat dog meat I also tell them they shouldn't. When you really understand dogs you could never eat their meat. You could never be so cruel to your most loyal friend."

There are more than 120,000 dogs kept as pets in Shenzhen -- where about 75% of its 9 million residents are migrant workers from other parts of China -- and the number is growing dramatically, according to Chen.

"There are so many migrants in Shenzhen and they keep dogs to avoid feeling lonely," Chen said. "More people love dogs now and more people have the economic ability to take care of dogs."

As more Chinese embrace dog ownership, some cities are trying to curb the trend. China Daily, a state-owned English-language newspaper, reported earlier this year that Jinan, the capital of Shandong province, passed a law requiring residents to obtain permission from their neighbors before their dog can be licensed. Shanghai enacted a one-dog policy starting in May, mimicking similar laws in Chengdu, Guangzhou and Beijing.

In Jiangmen, a city near Shenzhen in Guangdong province, the city banned dog ownership outright in late July but retracted the law by early August after a howl of protest from local pet owners, state media reported.

"There are many laws, but putting them into action is a different story," said Chen when asked about regulating dog ownership in Shenzhen. The only restriction currently in place in Shenzhen, he said, is a ban on "vicious dogs."

For now, the dogs in King Glory Plaza are tolerated by the general public. But one exasperated security guard at the square mutters after a failed attempt at keeping unleashed dogs off a plaza display: "Are the dogs the pets, or are the humans the pets?"

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