After being rescued from certain death as an entree at the Yulin Summer Solstice Dog Eating Festival, some 413 dogs are getting a second chance at a dog sanctuary in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, reports Caijing.

A representative of the dog sanctuary has revealed that hundreds of thousands of yuan were spent to rescue 417 dogs from Yulin.

READ: Yulin Draws Foreigners Who Dine on Dog Meat

The dogs were transported back to Yangzhou in extra-large cages on a giant transport truck by two Shanghai volunteers. Costing about 15,000 yuan, The journey from Yulin to Yangzhou is about 800km by train and cost about RMB 15,000. Unfortunately, four dogs perished during the trip.

The dogs finally arrived at the Gaoyou dog sanctuary at 1am on July 4. After undergoing a quarantine administered by the local authorities, the dogs have finally been set free.

So who paid for all of this? Apparently some wealthy people in China, including a few from Shanghai.

A representative for the dog sanctuary explains their needs:

For the Yulin dog rescue, a fund of RMB 200,000 was raised. Aside from the funds already spent, there is now the need for RMB100,000 for the dogs’ upkeep. We need donations to raise funds.

The dogs consume five large bags of dog food in one meal, costing RMB 1,000 per day. Staff say they feed the animals twice a day, bringing the cost to RMB 60,000 a month.

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The final goal of the dog sanctuary is to find them each a good home. After full quarantine approval, the dogs will be registered and available for adoption. If not adopted, the dogs will be allowed to live at the sanctuary for the remainder of their lives.

To prevent the dogs from falling back into the hands of unscrupulous dog traders, a rigorous approval process is mandated for every person interested in adopting a dog from the sanctuary. People must provide a valid ID and sign a contract guaranteeing the dog’s safety as well as check-in from time to time with a photo of the dog.

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The Better Our Business!”

Even though these dogs are safely out of harm’s way, other dogs in the same province will be undergoing a similar fate to those in Yulin, Guangxi.

Reports of a dog-eating festival in Jiangsu Province are being downplayed by the local government, saying that it is an “activity run by a business”. Organizers of the event cite thousands of years of tradition as they prepare for a festival that is “small-scale” and open only to an invited group of about a hundred people.

Related:

• Animal Activists Clash with Dog-Serving Guangxi Restaurant
• Doctors in Yulin Told to Stay Away From Dog Eating Festival
• Shocking: the Brazen Capture of a Dog in Broad Daylight in Guangdong

Photos: Yangcheng Evening Report