URGENT. DEVELOPING FAST… truck with 70 dogs, headed for slaughter and the dinner table, has been INTERCEPTED. Authorities may SHOOT THEM!

We have an important update on the dogs rescued from the illegal dog meat trade in Zambia.

The authorities wanted them shot, but we have bought the dogs time. They have been handed over to the Cactus Foundation, a Zambian-based animal welfare organization, and our team is there at its side helping the dogs. They are not out of the woods yet because it is still possible that the court will issue a death sentence. The dogs will be taken to Lusaka and cared for while we await a final court decision.

We will fight for every dog and do our best to ensure they never have to suffer again. Please help us secure their safety by donating now. We need your continued support.

In Mkushi, Zambia, 70 dogs were found in a truck, in the most awful and shocking conditions, destined for the cruel and brutal dog meat trade, where dogs are slaughtered for their meat and eaten as a delicacy.

Right now, as you read these words, 19 of the dogs are miraculously still alive and in DESPERATE NEED OF HELP – and, eventually, loving homes!

In many parts of Africa, dog meat is considered a luxury and a “treat”. Locals indiscriminately round up any dogs they can find, often stealing pets from their homes. They pack them into trucks in the most brutal conditions and drive them to their fate: cruel and painful death.

At a routine traffic check, police stopped a truck when they heard distressed cries coming from inside. The truck was headed towards the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). What the police found in the cargo hold was beyond sickening.

As they opened the back doors, a few dogs scrambled out in desperation. Many had already succumbed to the hellish conditions and were lying lifeless, their bodies piled on top of each other. A few clung to life, unable to move from exhaustion.

<mark>Of the 70 dogs packed into the back of the truck, in disgusting conditions, 40 were dead. The 30 survivors stayed alive by sticking their heads out of a small gap in the back of the truck doors, gasping for air. They were barely clinging to life when police made the gruesome discovery. Since then, another 11 dogs have succumbed to their injuries.</mark>

The truck was heading towards the Congo, where dog meat is frequently on restaurant menus. The trade is illegal so the dogs would be beaten and axed to death in makeshift butcheries. Many used to be someone’s beloved PETS!

Upon investigation, it was determined that the dogs had been in the truck, without food or water, in the baking sun for at least three days.

<mark>They were literally being baked alive!</mark>

Police in Zambia have the authority to shoot and kill dogs like these. Thankfully, the police officer who found the dogs chose not to kill the animals on sight. Instead, he called local animal welfare organizations for help, who we are working with. The responders immediately sprang into action and began administering life-saving treatment to the surviving animals.

Can you imagine the horror and suffering these dogs must have been experiencing? If you have ever sat in a hot car with the windows up, you will know how scary it is, and how desperate you are for air… how you would be gasping for breath.

The dogs are now being cared for by our team and other animal lovers. We must do everything we can to save and help the survivors - to get them care and FIND THEM HOMES!

It is a ghastly situation - 40 animals died from suffocation, exhaustion and extreme heat stroke - and another 11 died soon after the truck was stopped. It is a tragedy that the survivors were forced to watch their friends die - and then remain trapped with them in the back of a baking hot van as they fought for their every breath.

Those who have survived desperately need, and deserve, our help!

They are malnourished, covered in parasites, and have developed sores from where they were squashed and pressed up against each other in the cargo. They are, of course, utterly traumatized - many of these poor animals were probably pets, stolen from their homes and sold for a pittance into the dog meat trade.

With our help - yours, and ours - vets and volunteers on the ground will provide critical medical treatment and food to the dogs and will continue their battle to challenge the court order to have them killed. They have reached out to us for help and of course, we have agreed without hesitation! Every animal life is worth fighting for!

A dog’s life is worth almost nothing in Zambia - but to you, and us, every dog's life is worth fighting for, and saving. Will you stand with us as we fight for the miracle survivors of Zambia’s dog meat trade?

Please donate right now so that we can do everything in our power to ensure the best possible outcome for the animals. If we can raise $10,000 (£8,500), we can help feed and rehabilitate the survivors of this awful situation, help find them homes and prevent the unthinkable from happening: the dogs being shot to death. Please, donate whatever you can right now.

For the animals,

Brian and Gloria Davies (and Max and Flora!)
Founders
Network for Animals

P.S. In Zambia, a dog’s life is worth just $6.00 (£5.00) - but to us, and animal lovers like you, a dog’s life is priceless. That is why we fight for every animal life, and if you stand with us right now, we can fight for the lives of these brave survivors who deserve a second chance at happiness. Please, help us right now to rehabilitate these dogs and give them the life they deserve.