Last month the heart of Manchester, voices united in remembrance of Wang Wang, Fireball Miko and the countless innocent souls whose lives have been stolen by cruelty, including the thousands of souls at Yulin Dog Meat Festival.
Miko, a young kitten in China whose torture and death became a symbol of the campaign against organised online cat abuse, was among those remembered.
We came together to honour them all, but also to reflect on one story. A story that sent shockwaves across the world, exposing not only the unimaginable cruelty inflicted upon innocent animals, but the deeply disturbing reality of such suffering being filmed and shared for others to witness.
The story of Wang Wang, a mother, and her three tiny puppies. By now, many of you will have heard Wang Wang’s name and the horrific circumstances surrounding her death. You may have seen the images. You may have read about what happened to her. But behind the horror was a mother and three tiny babies who had barely begun their lives.
Wang Wang was a stray mother in Jieyang, China. She was known locally and was fed by people in the area. She had recently given birth to three tiny puppies, believed to have been just two weeks old and not yet able to open their eyes.
On 28th June, several young boys attacked Wang Wang and her puppies.
The puppies were attacked first; they were beaten with sticks and killed during the attack. Wang Wang was then beaten and dragged before being set on fire, all while they filmed the horrific incident.
It’s almost impossible to comprehend.
Three tiny puppies who had never even had the chance to see the world around them.
And Wang Wang, their mother, who stayed with them.
The stories of Wang Wang, Fireball Miko and the countless innocent souls lost to cruelty serve as a painful reminder that the suffering of dogs and cats in China extends far beyond the slaughterhouse. Cruelty is not always hidden behind closed doors. It can unfold openly on the streets, be filmed, shared online and witnessed by the world. Sometimes like in Mocha’s case she was tortured and then sent to the dog meat market.
We have witnessed the devastating consequences of cruelty first-hand through some of our own rescues, and we know all too well that Wang Wang’s story is not an isolated one.
“We have a dog at our shelter called Sasha, who is missing her two back legs because when we found her, she was lying on a butcher’s table fully conscious, having just had her legs chopped off.”
In the heart of Manchester, amidst the noise and movement of the city, supporters of NoToDogMeat came together for a peaceful vigil in remembrance of Wang Wang, Miko and the countless innocent souls whose lives have been lost to cruelty and the dog meat trade.
For a city that continued to move around them, there was an amalgamation of sorrow and joy. Her life deserved to be mourned, but it also deserved to be celebrated, and there was a united sense of purpose among everyone who had gathered there in her name.
Photographs were displayed, and messages were shared as people stopped to remember a mother and her three tiny puppies, whose lives ended in unimaginable cruelty. Songs were played, their sombre yet beautiful lyrics filling the air and carrying Wang Wang’s memory amongst those gathered.
There was something incredibly poignant about standing in such a busy city and hearing those songs, whilst people stopped to remember animal lives that had been anything but peaceful.
People who care deeply about animals can sometimes feel as though they are shouting into the void. We see the suffering, we carry the stories, and we wonder whether our voices are ever loud enough to make a difference.
But then you stand amongst a crowd of people who have come together for an animal they never knew, in a city that has no connection to where her life ended, and suddenly that feeling of helplessness becomes something different.
It becomes solidarity.
It becomes a collective voice.
And perhaps that is what Wang Wang’s vigil represented most of all. She could not speak for herself, so others chose to speak for her.
Not because one vigil can undo what happened, but because remembering matters. Because speaking her name, and the names of all those who suffered before her, matters. Because every time we refuse to let an animal’s suffering be forgotten, we remind the world that their lives mattered too.
This article was written by our wonderful volunteer Julie G. @notodogmeat We hope it inspires you to keep speaking out.
We have over 700 dogs and cats in our care and we really need your help to feed them and keep them safe. We continue to rescue in the most brutal conditions and will return to Yulin this winter. Winter solstice is the date of more dog eating festivals.
Please donate what you can and continue to share our posts.
You can also Join Maxine and Michael with little Mocha our dog meat trade survivor at the next vigil in Liverpool this weekend. 1-3 pm outside Primark
Whatever you do, let’s never give up until the cruelty ends.
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