Millions of people around the world are captivated by a story out of China, where a group of dogs reportedly escaped certain death after fleeing a dog meat truck.

A video recorded on March 16 shows seven dogs wandering along the side of a busy highway in China’s Jilin province. A local rescue group told the South China Morning Post the animals had all come from the same village, were stolen, and were apparently making the journey home.

The group included an injured German shepherd, a Corgi, retrievers and Pekingese dogs who moved together like “a band of little brothers in distress, moving in unison,” said Lu, who recorded the video and posted it to Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

Rescuers dispatched several volunteers and even a drone to track the dogs and ensure they made it safely back to their village.

“One volunteer claimed that individuals operating a dog meat shop had stolen the dogs, suggesting they may have escaped from a truck, though no witnesses saw their departure,” the news outlet reported.

The video has since racked up hundreds of millions of views across social media. Ultimately, the dogs made it home.

“We are so lucky they came back, not to be eaten,” said the owner of two of the dogs, a German shepherd and a golden retriever.

While the consumption of dog meat still occurs in China, it is far less common than in the past and largely concentrated in the southern region of the country. In 2020, the Chinese government officially reclassified dogs as “companion animals” rather than “livestock.”

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