The female golden retriever had been spotted being sold by a vendor at a Chinese market known for its dog meat trade, and was thought to be a stolen pet.
Animal lovers raised enough money on the spot to pay the dog meat vendor.
Hundreds of people were in the group, according to one of the animal lovers, who goes by the surname Xu.
They raised 14,450 yuan (£1,612) from the vendor to purchase the golden retriever and about 20 other dogs.On April 1, an incident occurred at Kunming’s Xiaobanqiao Market.
All of the dogs were believed to be stolen pets and were kept in rusted cages when the group discovered them.
The animal lovers are Sanhe Animal Protection Centre volunteers in Kunming.
Before seeing those caged dogs, they had gone to the market to look for a missing pet. One of them appeared to be the dog they were searching for. The vendor allegedly told them that those dogs were’meal dogs,’ meaning they were being sold to restaurants to be used in dishes. Per kilogram, the vendor demanded 60 yuan (£6.6).