Every dog has its day but two particular puppies are getting an extra few more thanks to the work of a doctor.
Doctor Peter Li was in the city of Yulin, in China's Shaanxi province back in late June as part of the Humane Society's bid to stop the annual Yulin Summer Solstice Dog Meat Festival. The festival takes place on the first day of summer and traditionally is celebrated with the slaughter, cooking, and consumption of stray dogs followed by drinking strong liquor, the International Business Times reports.
For the people in Yulin, the festival is about 20 years old, an idea born out of superstition that eating dog meat on the sunniest day of the year bring good luck and health, TIME Magazine points out.
An estimated 10,000 stray dogs are killed each year for the festival, according to CNN.
The increased awareness of the festival's controversial practices has drawn the ire of thousands on social media and the attention of groups like the Humane Society and Li himself.
During the festival, Li saw two puppies who had just been sold to a restaurant owner. In order to save them, the doctor bought the puppies off the restaurant owner.
"They were so cute that they looked like polar bear cubs. Their innocent faces were unbelievably attractive. They were like furballs. I could not imagine that they were brought to the live dog market," Li wrote on his blog for the Humane Society International.
But Li's efforts to save the dogs didn't stop there. He's adopted Colby, giving him a home in the U.S. while giving Scout to his friend in the Humane Society.
To learn more about the pup's rescue, watch the video above.
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