Since 2009, China has been making headlines for its mistreatment of dogs at the annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival.

The 10-day summer festival encourages the consumption of dog meat to help "ward off heat." Not only are poor animals slaughtered for meat, they're also kept in awful conditions and tortured before they meet their end.

Animal rights activists and supporters all over the world took a stand against the horrible celebration and fortunately thousands of dogs were successfully rescued, rehabilitated and rehomed.

One of these lucky pups is Lady the greyhound.

When volunteers Jeffrey, Deborah and Lia first came to Lady's aid, she was very distressed, mangy, severely dehydrated, had trouble breathing and showed signs of physical pain. Her spirits were low and she seemed to have lost the will to live.  

Fortunately, the trio of rescuers provided brought the pup to the Nanning Safe House where they provided her with necessary medical care and lots of love. Before long she was back on her feet. She soon became a mother figure to other Yulin-survivor dogs.

Lady is now a part of Deborah's family and lives with them in a beautiful vineyard in California.  

Here's a video of Lady's journey to a second chance at life (graphic imagery):