Chinese animal lovers gather to stop a convoy of trucks carrying some 500 dogs to be sold as meat, along a highway in Beijing on early April 17, 2011, and the dogs were later rescued to the China Animal Protection Association. There were about 58 million pet dogs in 20 major Chinese cities at the end of 2009 and the figure is rising about 30 percent each year, according to a survey, as pet owners in China spend an estimated two billion USD a year on their animals. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)
