Critics said the Yulin Dog Meat Festival happening from June 21 to June 30 should be banned as it promotes inhumane slaughter of animals and unhygienic handling of food.
“The dog meat trade and the massive slaughter [for the festival] are extremely cruel and should come to an end,” Humane Society International (HSI) China specialist Peter Li said in a report from the South China Morning Post.
The HSI has aggressively launched a crusade against the festival and the dog trade in China, joining forces with other animal welfare groups in Hong Kong and the mainland such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Annually held in Yulin in China’s southern region of Guangxi, the festival draws thousands of local and foreign tourists. Preparations include trade and slaughter of at least 10,000 dogs and some cats for consumption during the 10-day event that marks the country’s summer solstice.
The Yulin tradition also drew criticism due to some illegal activities that put human health at risk from diseases such as rabies, trichinellosis and cholera. Animal rights advocates said some traders bring pets into the city without quarantine certificates.
The tradition, according to Capital Animal Welfare Association director Qin Xiaona, should be scrapped as it besmirches China’s reputation.
After launching an online petition, HSI and other international groups will lobby with the central government in Beijing in May for the festival’s abolition.
Despite claims by the Yulin government that illegal activities have already ceased, Li of the HSI said there are still mass slaughters of dogs and cats, and that it is common to see groups of animals confined in small cages.
“This was one of the most harrowing visits I’ve ever made to Yulin,” Li said of his trip to that city in March.
In China, an estimated 10 million to 20 million dogs are being killed for their meat every year and animal rights activists said the country needs to follow the example of those developed nations that ban eating dogs and cats.
“China needs to progress with the times,” Yu Hongmei, director of the VShine Animal Protection Association, told the Associated Press.
“Preventing cruelty to animals is the sign of a mature, civilized society.”
Last year, secret cameras captured shocking images of thousands of dogs and cats being shipped to Yulin and slaughtered in preparations for the festival.
