Pop stars and celebrities have joined the fight to find the grieving families of a dog stolen by thieves for the meat trade.

Xiao Bai is just one of 35 dogs who survived being captured by a dog meat gang in the Chinese city of Chengdu.

But while his suffering at the hands of China’s meat industry is not unusual – his story has brought a united response online.

It has been obvious from the outset that Xiao Bai is a stolen companion animal – he was still wearing a pink collar and was desperate for human kindness when rescued.

While he has no microchip, his new carers hope that the pink collar may be enough of a clue for his worried family to come forward.

When Animals Asia shared the news of Xiao Bai and the other dogs’ suffering on social media, celebrities including super-star actress Karen Mok came together to help.

Karen Mok beseeched her 12 million social media followers to find Xiao Bai’s lost guardians, while pop stars Zhang Jia Ni and Huo Zun also called on their army of fans to reunite the broken families. 

Nearly 4.5 million people checked to see if they recognised the dogs just from Karen’s post alone and animal lovers across the country helped out by sharing the message as widely as they could.

Animals Asia’s Cat and Dog Welfare Director, Irene Feng said:

“China’s online community has really come together to try and reunite all the stolen dogs with their families. Sadly, we can’t know which province they were originally snatched from which leaves us looking for needles in a haystack. We hold out the greatest hope for Xiao Bai who we are absolutely certain has a family out there who miss him greatly.

“People’s willingness to try and help says a lot about how cats and dogs are loved in China and people are seeing dog thieves as a social evil – one that can be beaten by animal lovers coming together. With the traffickers caught people are desperate for a happy ending for Xiao Bai and as many of the dogs as possible.”

Sadly, despite the help of Chinese TV and social media shared by national stars, no lost guardians have yet been found.

If the families of Xiao Bai and the other rescued dogs can’t be found, then new homes will be sought, but the process is being hampered by the ongoing criminal investigation into the dog thieves’ activities.

Until the case is closed, the dogs cannot be put up for adoption, but they can be reunited with their original guardians.

Animals Asia Founder and CEO, Jill Robinson MBE said:

“While there is still the slimmest chance of finding the original homes of these 35 dogs, we’ll keep trying. Their lives have been devastated by the dog meat industry, but we must be happy they are still alive and have not suffered the gruesome fate of so many others.

“For now they are safe from harm and their health is improving. Once it’s legally possible, we’ll move forward with finding new forever homes, but until then, we’ll keep searching for those grieving families.”

When the Chengdu authorities rescued Xiao Bai and 34 other dogs, they called Animals Asia for help.

Since then, the animal welfare charity has ensured all 35 victims were transferred to a nearby shelter and have received vaccinations and medical care.

The two sickest dogs – Xiao Bai and a stray called Xiao Tu – were sent to a veterinary clinic on advice from an Animals Asia vet and their conditions are now improving.

Despite an estimated 10 million dogs being slaughtered for meat annually, a 2015 report by Animals Asia found no evidence of any large-scale breeding farms anywhere in the country.

A survey earlier this year by China National Radio received 20,000 votes, with 69% agreeing the dog and cat meat industries should be banned.

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