Distressing footage that is being shared around social media shows the heartbreaking moment a woman realizes that her pet golden retriever of eight years has passed away after it was allegedly poisoned by one of her neighbors.
Leewen Zhang, formerly a resident of San Francisco, California, moved to the region of Yubei in Chongqing, southwest China, last year with the intention of moving to Europe later. However, tragedy struck as her dog, Julie, reportedly ate chicken laced with rat poison that was thrown on their lawn by one of her "dog hating" neighbors. Julie died a short while later.
In a detailed Facebook post, Leewen explained her current helpless predicament following the cruel poisoning on October 14. Describing Julie as her "best friend and baby," Leewen wrote how she had adopted the dog when it was just two-months-old and how it had been her assistance dog which was authorized by the state of California.
She said she had moved to China last year but was planning to go to Europe for the long term. Because Julie suffered from heart ailments, Zhang rented an apartment in one of the more well-to-do regions of Yubei but soon found that the area was not conducive for her dog.
Leewen wrote about how she heard that a lot of the residents hated dogs, cursed dogs, and created groups where they could discuss how to kill dogs because they believed that the environment should only be for kids. Furthermore, she said that one of her neighbors abused her and threatened her over four times, even going so far as to say that he would kill her dog.
But just as Leewen was planning to move to Europe after the Chinese New Year this coming February, her dog would be targeted. She explained how "evil people" had wrapped the rat poison into some chicken meat before spreading it on the lawn that Julie loved rolling over.
Zhang said she saw Julie consume the chicken but that she thought nothing of it because she thought it was just some food trash. However, at around 6 pm the same evening, Julie reportedly started to wail and vomit as well as poo blood. Zhang wrote she panicked and started crying, and just 30 minutes later, Julie was no more.
She said she could never forget "her scream, her cry, and her fight for surviving," and that she was still in deep grief over Julie's death. However, because of China's laws against animal cruelty, or lack thereof, it's highly likely that Zhang will never see justice. Police allegedly told her that there was nothing they can do and that hundreds of dogs die by poisoning every day because there were no laws to punish such crimes.
Despite the odds being stacked against her, Zhang said she intends to fight so that no other dog will have to suffer the same fate as Julie. "Julie’s death is sacred," she wrote. " I will not surrender by the current situation. No matter how many difficulties ahead, or even the devils want to kill me. I will keep fighting for animal rights."
(Warning: Distressing Content) A video of Zhang mourning Julie's death: