In the United States we love our animals like they are family. So seeing how dogs and cats are treated in other places like China is hard to watch. What you are about to see is terrible, so be warned.

In China, people eat dogs and there are even festivals dedicated to consuming dog meat. More than 10 million dogs and four million cats are slaughtered for the meat trade in Asia every year.

Sadly, many of these animals are snatched from their homes. Their limbs are broken and they suffer horrible injuries when they are shoved into tiny cages. After that they are either bludgeoned to death or thrown alive into boiling water in front of each other.

Some Asian meat traders claim that their meat is raised on dog farms, but Animal Asia claims that most dogs are strays or even family pets. Luckily, some people are working very hard to end the sale and consumption of dog meat.

Activists were recently in Hunan, China where they stopped a shipment of 202 dogs that were on their way to market. Law enforcement removed the dogs from the truck and allowed activists to take them since the transporter had no way to show that he owned the dogs.

The dogs were brought to rescue facilities and hospitals where the workers say the animals seemed relieved at having a second chance at life. They were all suffering from festering wounds, maggot and fly infestations, diseases like distemper, and broken bones.

The conditions were so dire that 13 dogs died from the conditions after being rescued. However, the ones that survived, despite their horrible treatment, they were loving and gentle creatures and bonded to the people caring for them.

Rescuers believe that the animals were so affectionate because they were once domesticated pets. Some of the dogs were even still wearing the collars their owners gave them.

After the dogs recover from their wounds, they will be put up for adoption. Their rescuers say they show social behaviors that indicate they will easily adapt to their new homes.

Please share this devastating story with your family and friends in hopes that this horrible trade comes to an end.