Southampton Animal Shelter Partners With Global Animal Rescue Organization To Save Dogs From Yulin Meat Market In China

Panda, a 3-year-old female collie mix, walked timidly beside her handler, Ashley Tallon, from the Southampton Town Animal Shelter’s main entrance to a small wooden pen on Tuesday.With her black-and-white tail tucked between her legs, she watched as fellow shelter dogs Petunia, Haung Huang and Reggie each got fitted with a black bandanna emblazoned with the words: “I survived Yulin.”

Panda was placed at the Hampton Bays shelter last week, and was one of 150 dogs that were rescued from just one truck on its way to the annual Yulin Meat Market in China last month—to deliver them to a startling fate.

The 10-day Chinese festival began in 2009 and is held to mark the summer solstice, during which visitors eat dog meat. Dog meat was once considered a delicacy in China, but it had fallen out of favor for centuries, until the new festival revived the practice.

Since 2016, No Dogs Left Behind, a global animal rescue organization led by Jeffrey Beri, has rescued and rehabilitated more than 3,000 dogs and closed four slaughterhouses across China.

Every year, the nonprofit estimates that 10,000 to 15,000 dogs are tortured and killed, many of which are said to have been stolen from their owners, “as indicated by their collars that are still around their necks.”

“These dogs, many of them were stolen from their homes, tortured and tossed into chicken cages — some of them have brothers and sisters that are dead,” Mr. Beri said. “Every day, they don’t know if they’re going to live or die.”

This year will be the second year that the Southampton Town Animal Shelter has worked with No Dogs Left Behind, according to Kate McEntee, director of adoptions and fosters. “Whenever we have extra room and extra kennels, we always look for animals in need,” she said.

In 2017, the shelter was home to five or six dogs that were rescued from the Chinese meat festival — all of which were adopted. “That was our first introduction to them, and now it’s pretty cool because we’re doing it again,” Ms. McEntee said.

Susan Schneider, a board member of No Dogs Left Behind, said on Tuesday that the organization spends approximately $1,500 to chip, vaccinate and ship each dog to local shelters like the Southampton Town Animal Shelter, as well as the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons in East Hampton, which has also recently accepted dogs from China.

No Dogs Left Behind also operates two of their own shelters in Beijing and Hunan.

Mr. Beri, who was greeted with kisses from Reggie and Petunia via FaceTime on Tuesday morning, attributed the organization’s success to its five-tier approach, which includes emergency response, veterinary care, educational awareness, legislation, and, ultimately, adoption.

“We believe that rescue has no borders, and we have chosen to fight animal cruelty in the worst region on the planet — and that’s China,” he said.

He predicted that the Chinese festival would be shut down by animal activists within the next two years.

“When we send dogs to shelters like the Southampton Animal Shelter, that creates an uptick in adoptions,” he said. “These dogs walk the streets as ambassadors to the movement.”