Saving dogs from China’s meat trade
Port Winchester woman welcomes 2 new pets
When Sunny Stock discovered the No Dogs Left Behind Instagram page, she wanted to help. ● Following the death of one of her dogs in March 2021, Stock, 39, of Canal Winchester, adopted two dogs from the organization, which saves dogs from the meat markets and slaughterhouses in China. ● Between 10 million and 20 million dogs are killed for their meat annually in China, according to the Humane Society International. The meat trade is “unregulated and often, illegal,” according to the organization. ● Jeffrey Beri, founder and president of No Dogs Left Behind, which advocated for global animal welfare laws, said China has more animal cruelty than many countries and the organization is working to change that.
Operated by an “extensive volunteer and activist base,” No Dogs Left Behind works with local authorities to shut down dog slaughterhouses and meat farms, confiscating the dogs and moving them to their facilities to receive vaccination and medical treatment, Beri said. The dogs can then be placed into foster homes before finding forever homes.
Beri said Stock adopted Thor, an Old English sheepdog, and Raina, an Alaskan Malamute, after they were rescued from the Hunan Province in China in March 2021. Thor was caged in the back of a restaurant to be slaughtered and eaten, and Raina was rescued from the back of a dog slaughterhouse truck, he said.
Stock, who runs a small business called Pension Design & Administration that is a third-party administrator of 401(k) plans, said that when she decided to adopt through No Dogs Left Behind, there was one last flight leaving China for the U.S. before a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ban on imported dogs from 108 countries due to rabies concerns taking effect.
The flight was canceled because of weather, so Thor and Raina had to be flown to Canada to quarantine for six months before they could legally enter the U.S.
Stock said she’s had Thor, whom she renamed
Muggsy, for almost a year, and he is best friends with her Pitbull, Roman. Muggsy shows signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and is very skittish, she said, but he is a loving dog — so much so that Stock believes he may have been someone’s pet in China before he was taken to the restaurant.
“Even after everything that he’s been through, he’s still just a dog and he just wants to hang out with his family and to be around his humans he loves,” Stock said
Stock took Muggsy with her on June 13 to pick up Raina, which she renamed Isla, when she was flown into Newark Heath Airport.
Isla is “settling in nicely,” Stock said, and doing well with her other dogs. She said the family is looking forward to a little cooler weather to take her to the dog park to “let loose and enjoy her new freedom.”
Stock said she is excited to care for Isla and knows it will be an adjustment for everyone. Because she works from home, the adjustment will be easier.
Muggsy and Roman are friends, cuddling together often. But Stock said Muggsy is overweight and lazy, so she looks forward to Isla and Roman playing together, as Isla has more energy.
Stock has always been an animal lover, comparing her home to an “animal farm.” The family has two cats and now three dogs.
When caring for a traumatized dog, patience is most important, Stock said. She said owners must be aware that even the smallest of situations can trigger a traumatic memory.
For instance, Muggsy would not approach his food bowl for about 10 minutes because he did not like the noise of some plastic bags hanging on the doorknob above.
Beri said No Dogs Left Behind provides future dog owners with instructions on caring for traumatized dogs. These can include avoiding the use of
hairdryers and vacuums, as the noise can be disturbing, and vacuums can resemble blowtorches with which the dogs were burned.
“A lot of the squeaky toys can resemble a dog being slaughtered and its screams,” Beri said.
Beri said people can get involved with No Dogs Left Behind by sharing its social media posts, volunteering for the organization’s dog safehouses and donating to fundraisers. Jorozco@dispatch.com @Jessicacorozco