photos and much more here:
http://careforchineseanimals.net/2012/04/22/april-20th-500-caged-dogs-rescued-in-kunming-china/
4.20 Kunming Dog Rescue -- 4.20 昆明救狗
http://news.sina.com.cn/s/2012-04-21/075524307389.shtml
On the
night of April the 19th, an urgent message via Weibo (Chinese Twitter) said
that there was a truck filled with caged dogs coming towards the Fumin-Kunming
Highway. Hundreds of loving citizens came to the toll station on the highway
within half an hour in an effort to stop the truck, which has to pass
through there. The volunteers called local police and at 11pm the truck,
with 505 dogs in 156 cages, was stopped at the toll station on the highway
of Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province, southwest of China.
Both the caged dogs and the volunteers were made to wait over night at the
police station for officers from various local governments to arrive. During
this time volunteers tried their best to provide water and food for the poor
dogs who were all squeezed into the cages, and even with their best efforts
many dogs were injured and some even died. The next morning police officers
finally allowed the volunteers to take the cages down from the trucks as
their situation was worsening. The loving volunteers worked hard to keep all
dogs fed and as healthy as possible, as well as providing shade and
protecting them from the hot sun.
There were many breeds of dogs that
were kidnapped including Husky and Samoyed, with many wearing leads and
wearing clothes, clear indications that these dogs were stolen from their
families by these evil people. Many dogs were very weak and sick from the
terrible ordeal.
The driver of the truck had no legal paper work with
him, and the dogs were supposed to be released by the Animal Quarantine
Office. However, the local AQ officer had phoned the AQ office in Xichang,
Sichuan Province, where the truck had originally come from, and declared the
certificate that they had over there legal. This caused the officers to
allow any healthy dogs to go back to the driver. It is ridiculous that such
a thing was allowed based on no evidence that there is even a real
certificate. Even with a legal certificate the poor dogs should never be
allowed to go back to the dog napper. By this time it was getting dark, and
the police forced volunteers out of the police station. The poor dogs were
caged again and reloaded up to the truck to prepare to go. To stop this
injustice from happening the volunteers refused to leave and waited outside
the front gate of the police station and sent out a message for more people
to come via Weibo. Dog lovers from inside and outside of China called the
local government and the police station repeatedly to protest their
decision.
Volunteers had their cars block the front gate of the
police station in order to stop the truck and dogs leaving, and many
volunteers and dog lovers arrived to block the front gate and tell them to
release the dogs. It is wonderful to see so many loving people go to such
efforts to rescue these dogs!
Finally a sum of 60000 RMB (around
$10000 USD) was paid by a loving person who does not wish to be named, and
the dogs were finally released to a local animal rescue group. This happened
on the midnight of April the 20th, and the tired volunteers were happy to
see the dogs finally being freed from their cages. On the morning of April
the 21st more volunteers and local vets came to treat injured dogs and
ensure their safety. Many citizens in Kunming wish to adopt dogs and it was
great to already see some dogs being given a nice home. The Kunming Yixin
Stray Animal Rescue group had around four hundred dogs in their shelter
before the 20/04 rescue, and endeavoured to make more space for the rescued
dogs to stay in. Hopefully with support from more loving people from China
as well as elsewhere in the world, the rescued dogs will recover soon and be
returned to be family members again.
Though it is unfortunate that
such a large sum of money had to be paid to the evil dog nappers to get the
dogs to be released, it is still great to hear these dogs will now be safe
and sound. The 4.20 Kunming dog rescue is sure to make the history books of
animal protection in China.
Photos of SOS#4.20 Kunming Dog Rescue:
http://news.qq.com/a/20120422/000226.htm#p=1
Links of Kunming Yixin Stray Animal Rescue group
http://www.weibo.com/u/2150153312 ;
http://shop65133568.taobao.com/
Link of SOS#4.20 Dog rescue
Briefly translated by Joy Gao
April 22nd 2012
