Hundreds of animals rescued from slaughter by activist

After spotting a truck packed with hundreds of whimpering dogs on a Beijing highway, a man put out a call on a microblogging site, begging fellow animal lovers to help him force the driver to release the animals.

Around 200 people responded, blockading the truck at a toll booth for 15 hours until they finally negotiated the dogs' release for $17,000, saving them from being slaughtered and served as food. Many of the animals were dehydrated, injured and suffering from a potentially deadly virus; at least 68 have been hospitalized.

"They were squeezing and pressing on each other and some were biting and fighting, and I saw some were injured or sick," according to Li Wei, who is the manager of Capital Animal Welfare Association and one of the people who participated in the rescue. Li said at least one dog had died in the truck.

The rescue was a rare successful case of social activism in China, where authorities are currently waging a brutal crackdown on dissent, locking up dozens of activists amid fears pro-democracy protests in the Middle East could catch on.

All the details at the Huffington Post.