Stories1 min(s) read
Published 17:07 23 Dec 2020 GMT
An emotional video has gone viral on social media this week after a group of 20 golden retrievers who were rescued from the dog meat trade met their new owners for the first time.
According to a report by The Metro, the dogs in question were rescued by volunteers working at Golden Rescue South Florida, a dog rescue center in Miami.
Take a look at this news report on the newly-homed dogs:
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Per The Metro, 17 volunteers spent six months planning and fundraising $50,000 in conjunction with PETA and a Taiwanese animal rights charity to rescue the canines from the meat markets in China.
They managed to save 20 of the animals from being eaten after flying 7,800 miles from Beijing to start a new life in America.
All 20 of the golden retrievers were adopted by US citizens before they’d even made it to America and their first meeting with their new owners was recorded for posterity.
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Per The Metro, 40-year-old rescue co-ordinator Kristine Minerva stated:
"It’s estimated alone that about 10 million dogs are slaughtered for the dog meat trade each year.
"Just seeing an animal in such horrible conditions is heart-breaking. Once rescued and they knowing they are safe is one of the most heart warming and selfless feeling ever."
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She continued:
"Rescuing, Fostering and saving an animals life has always been my passion. Dogs can’t talk, we are their voice.
"Dogs feel emotions, you can see it in their face, they are so unbelievably loyal and I cannot imagine torturing, beating, starving a living soul.
"Once we were able see them in their cages in was an incredible moment and there were lots of emotions, everyone just unraveled."
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She added: "The dogs were being kept with hundreds of other golden retrievers when I found out about them.
"Fewer and fewer golden retrievers need to be rescued here in the States, so I figured I’d push the envelope and see about saving goldens from their horrible fate in China.
"All adoptive homes were found before they arrived. They were already so loved by so many families."
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This happy news should come as a new blow against the eating of dogs, coming a little over a year after dog meat was banned in South Korea's capital city of Seoul.
