Yulin dog meat festival goes on despite outcry

Diogenes

Diogenes

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JOE SEEMS TO HAVE ENJOYED HIS DINNER



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For many residents of China’s southern town of Yulin, it's always the perfect time to get together with family and friends - and eat lots of dog meat.

As many as 10,000 dogs, many of them strays or stolen pets, are slaughtered for the annual dog meat festival held deep inside the largely rural and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

A group of about 25 animal rights activists briefly showed banners in front of the city government office, demanding an end to the festival, but they were quickly hustled away by unidentified men.

While many Chinese have signed online petitions seeking a ban on the festival, Yulin's dog market has become a site for clashes of supporters and opponents of the trade.

"There are all sorts of cultural norms about what you can eat, you eat turkey, so why are you trying to force us to not eat dog meat?" shouted one dog meat supporter.

Eating dog is good for your health, say supporters, and it is just like any other meat.

Apparently concerned about the adverse publicity, the local government says it has no ties to the event, issuing a statement saying it did not officially sponsor or promote the festival. It said authorities would tightly control public order and punish any incidents of stealing or poisoning dogs. Traders would no longer be permitted to slaughter dogs in public, place carcasses on display or serve meals outdoors, it said.

Despite such restrictions, restaurant owners said the festival continued to attract enthusiasts for the dish.

“Eating dog meat is a local tradition, it has nothing to do with the local government,” said a receptionist at the Longmen Dog Meat Restaurant reached by phone.







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Yulin dog meat festival goes on despite outcry

For years people in China have been eating dogs, especially at an annual festival, which was held today. Now it seems the festival is going out of fashion
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While there is no nationwide ban on the consumption of dog meat in China, the country's Ministry of Agriculture made a public statement in 2020 to explain that dogs (and cats) are not included on the "livestock" list because they are considered companion animals.

Peter Li, the Humane Society International's China policy expert, told Newsweek, "Unlike South Korea, there are no dedicated dog meat farms in China," Li said. "The majority of dogs caught up in the trade are family or 'owned' pets and strays snatched from the streets. Dog thieves use a variety of methods, including poison, dragging dogs from back yards, and drive-by grabbing of animals, to sell to traders and restaurant owners. Once they have accumulated enough, the dogs and cats are crammed in small cages in their hundreds unable to move, and piled on the back of trucks."

"Dogs shipped to Yulin during the so-called 'festival' will come from as far as Anhui, Hubei and Henan in central China, as much as 1,500 miles away. This is an excruciatingly cruel transport during which the dogs are denied any food, water and rest," he said. "Those dogs stacked at the bottom of the truck become drenched in urine and feces, while those piled in the middle of the cargo can suffocate to death."

But the animals don't just suffer during the journey. Cruelty and suffering exist in every part of the trade, according to Li.

"Once at Yulin (or any destination), the unloading of dogs is violent, with cages routinely hurled off of the truck and smashed down on to the ground. Bodily injuries caused by the sharp wire caging, biting, rough handling and limbs becoming crushed, cause untold suffering to the dogs," he said.

"The method by which they are slaughtered varies but dogs are usually beaten to death with a metal pipe in full view of each other, and then bled out from a cut to the throat or groin. When you visit a dog or cat slaughterhouse, you'll find traumatized dogs there who have witnessed the killing of their cage mates and must surely know that the same will happen to them. It's a hugely upsetting experience."



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Horror of Yulin Dog Meat Festival Exposed as Thousands Set for Slaughter

China's dog and cat meat trade relies heavily on the illegal activity of animal stealing to sustain itself.
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