About 200 volunteers crowded in a temporary shelter on Sunday attending to the roughly 480 weak dogs that were rescued on their way to be slaughtered as food last week in Kunming, Yunnan province.

"I came here right after I found out about the dogs online," said Yu Yihan, a 22-year-old travel guide, who has spent more than five hours a day at the shelter since then.

About 500 dogs rescued by animal lovers were in makeshift homes at the Wangjiaqiao police station in Kunming, Yunnan province, on Friday. [Photo: China Daily]

"But all I can do is minor things, like putting water in their mouths," said Yu hoarsely. "We stopped the shipment, and I'm proud of myself."

About 500 dogs were found caged in a truck heading to Yulin, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Thursday. A witness reported the shipment to the police, fearing the dogs were being illegally brought to sale, and posted the news on a micro blog. The posting attracted hundreds of animal lovers' attention.

Subsequently, a joint investigation conducted by the local police station and department of agriculture and forestry confirmed that the shipment had the complete legal documents needed and that the transport was legal.

"I highly doubt it, because more than 100 dogs are family pets, like a golden retriever. Why would the factory raise such pets for food? They are obviously stolen," said an organizer of the shelter named Yao, who declined to give his full name.

The police station and agriculture and forestry department could not be reached for comment.