WARNING: Contains Graphic Images.
A whole host of Hollywood actors have released an emotional plea against the brutal torture of dogs in China.
According to a new PSA featuring Matt Damon, Joaquin Phoenix and Kate Mara, among others, every year thousands of dogs are stolen, kept in tiny cages and then slaughtered for consumption for the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, reports People.
The celebrities teamed up with Marc Ching – the founder of the Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation who is currently in China trying to save the stricken animals.
In the video Ching says:
This is built upon the belief that if you torture or abuse the animal, it makes the meat taste better or that it gives health benefit to who eats it.
Whether or not you think it is something to be eaten or on the menu, cruelty and torture and violence is wrong.
And, fortunately, some of the work is paying off. Earlier this week, Humane Society International (HSI) saved 29 dogs and five cats from a slaughterhouse in Yulin.
YouTubePeter Li, HSI’s China policy specialist, led the rescue operation and said:
The police presence is heavy and the atmosphere is very tense, so this was not an easy rescue.
But we were determined to save animals from their gruesome fate at Yulin.
Mr Li said the dogs and cats were clearly afraid, but once they realised the team were there to save them, they quickly responded with licks and wagging tails.
YouTubeHe added:
It’s shocking to think that if we had not been there, all these animals would have been beaten to death and eaten.
The Yulin Dog Meat Festival only began in 2010 as a way to boost the area’s dog meat trade – let’s just hope the team can continue to save these poor animals from such cruel torture.
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