Barely visible beneath a tangle of filthy, matted hair, the dog’s blue eyes reflected fear mixed with hope as his rescuers lifted him off a truck in Qinhuangdao, China last month. He and 194 others had been on the way to a slaughterhouse, near-victims of the dog meat trade. Heartless men with only profit in mind had packed the animals into crowded cages and driven them for miles in the summer heat without food or water.

On July 9, brave activists pulled over the vehicle and changed Xiao Jiu (Little Ninth Angel, aka Blue Eyes)’s fate. Hardly a year old, looking like a total mess, he seemed to ask his liberators,” What are you going to do to me now?”

He was very lucky. A young man named Yu Duoduo and his mother took the dog home. They cleaned him up and shaved him themselves, revealing injuries new and old that shocked them.

Fortunately, despite his poor physical condition, Xiao Jiu was not too scarred emotionally. He has become a complete sweetheart. He eats well and has gained weight. Very possibly a stolen former pet, he must be so relieved to find himself once more in a loving home, safe and secure.

We will not rest in our fight to help millions more like him.