A woman in Beijing used to pass the same dog, crammed into a cage much too small for him, every single day. When she asked the man who owned the dog about him, he told her the dog would be sent to a slaughterhouse soon – and that’s when she knew she had to help.

The kind woman bought the dog, later named Tiger, from the man, and was planning to take him to a shelter. Her daughter fell in love with Tiger, though, and convinced her that they should try and find him a home themselves.

Tiger was instantly a wonderful companion for the woman’s daughter, and it was clear from the very beginning that he would thrive in a home with children.

The pair had been planning on going to visit family in San Francisco – and so they took Tiger with them.

Once in the U.S., Tiger was taken on by the Duo Duo Project, an organization that helps dogs rescued from slaughter in China. That’s how Jenny Sehic, Tiger’s new mom, first found out about him.

Sehic had traveled to China on business before, and had seen the trucks crammed full of dogs in tiny cages, being transported to slaughterhouses.

“I started following Duo Duo on social media to get a better understanding of the dog/cat meat trade and what we – as Americans – could do to stop this practice,” Sehic told The Dodo.

Sehic emailed the Duo Duo Project to see if there were any recently rescued dogs that still needed homes. “She sent me this photo of Tiger and we knew immediately that we had found our dog,” Sehic said.

Tiger was still very young, and yet when he arrived at his new home, his family marveled at how old he seemed. “He had the look of an elderly dog as he was skinny and with no musculature,” Sehic said. “He was hunched in the back and still has a deep scar on his back from the top of the cage that was clearly way too small for him.”

Tiger was a little timid with his new family at first, but it didn’t take long for him to warm up to them – especially Sloane.

Sloane is Sehic’s almost 3-year-old daughter, and she and Tiger have quickly become the best of friends. Tiger is Sloane’s very first dog, but the little girl has always been an animal lover.

They do absolutely everything together, and Tiger is very good at making sure that Sloane never gets into trouble. “Sloane is just about to turn 3 years old and has figured out that Tiger is a huge fan of playing fetch,” Sehic said. “The two of them spend a good chunk of time with Tiger patiently placing his stick or toy near Sloane who then (eventually) throws it for him … even if it doesn’t go very far.”

While many Chinese citizens and welfare groups have spoken out against the dog meat trade, it still continues, most notably at the annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival, which takes place next week.