They were destined to be cooked and eaten, but these suffering dogs luckily escaped their gruesome fate.
Police in Thailand rescued more than 1,000 of the animals from tiny cages when they intercepted four trucks attempting to smuggle them out of the country.
The dogs -stacked high in scores of crates – were being transported to Vietnam as officers swooped in two raids in Nathom and Si Songkhram districts near the border with Laos.
Livestock officials in Nakhon Phanom confirmed 1,011 dogs were being looked after at a government shelter.
Another 119 died from suffocation in the cramped cages or when they were thrown into the trucks as the fleeing traffickers tried to speed away.
Two Thai men and a Vietnamese man have been charged with trafficking and the illegal transportation of animals.
If convicted the accused face a maximum one-year jail sentence and a fine of up to 20,000 baht ($670)
The dogs were to be taken across the Mekong river in Laos. Prices for stray dogs and pets in rural Thai villages can reach as much as $33 an animal.
Thirteen countries around the globe still eat dog meat.They are: China, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Philippines, Polynesia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Arctic and Antarctic
China: Although the Chinese were the first to domesticate the dog and keep them as pets, dog meat has been a source of food from at least the time of Confucius, and possibly even before.
Indonesia: Eating dog meat is usually associated with people from the Batak Toba culture, who cook a traditional dish named saksang that is like a dog-meat stew.
Mexico: Dogs were historically bred for their meat by the Aztecs. These dogs were called itzcuintlis, and were often pictured on pre-Columbian Mexican pottery.
Philippines: In the capital city of Manila,the law specifically prohibits the killing and selling of dogs for food except in certain circumstances including research and animal population control.
Polynesia: Dogs were historically eaten in Tahiti and other islands of Polynesia at the time of first European contact in 1769.
Taiwan: Dog meat in Taiwan is particularly eaten in the winter months, especially black dogs, which are believed to help retain body warmth.
Korea: Gaegogi literally means ‘dog meat’ in Korean. Gaegogi, however, is often mistaken as the term for Korean soup made from dog meat, bosintang. The distaste felt by dog lovers, particularly from the West, has made this dish very controversial.
Switzerland: According to a Swiss newspaper report in 1996, the Swiss rural cantons of Appenzell and St. Gallen are known to have had a tradition of eating dogs, curing dog meat into jerky and sausages, as well as using the lard for medicinal purposes.
Vietnam: Dog meat is eaten throughout Vietnam. To many Northerners, it is a popular, if relatively expensive, dinnertime restaurant meal.
Arctic and Antarctic: Dogs have historically been an emergency food source for various peoples in Siberia, Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland. Sled dogs are usually maintained for pulling sleds, but occasionally are eaten when no other food is available.
