China’s Gruesome Dog Meat Festival Goes Ahead, Despite Protests

China's controversial Lychee and Dog Meat Festival is going ahead today, despite an international outcry calling for an end to the barbaric tradition. Commonly referred to as Yulin Dog Meat Festival, the annual summer solstice celebration held in Yulin, Guangxi spans about ten days, during which up to 15,000 dogs and cats are bought, sold, killed and consumed. Starting today, dogs will be paraded in wooden crates and metal cages in the streets before being brutally skinned and cooked for consumption. While the majority of Chinese people do not eat dog meat (a petition started by Chinese animal rights campaigners recently collected 11 million signatures) there are still plenty who see nothing wrong with continuing the 400 year-old practice, which many believe wards off heat in the summer months. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKOQIuHI3Eo According to the group Stop Yulin Forever, transporting the dogs to the festival is an intrinsically brutal operation:

"Dogs for Yulin come from as far as central and north China's Henan and Shandong, more than 1,000 miles away. They are crammed into wire cages unable to extend their limbs, denied food and water for days during the exhausting trip. The dogs arrive at their destination malnourished and underweight, dehydrated, often dying from injuries or from being poisoned during capture. Others are already dead."

No one checks to see where these dogs come from – many are heartlessly ripped from their loving homes, or darted with poison on the streets and dragged away to the slaughterhouse. Therefore, disease is rampant due to the squalid conditions and lack of medical care.

"Once they arrive at the “festival”, thousands of dogs are beaten, killed, and eventually eaten by people who believe eating dog meat on this day will bring good luck. Beating and killing these struggling, crying dogs in full view of other terrified dogs showcases an industry that is devoid of humanity. Additionally, the criminal activity of dog theft sustains much of the dog meat industry, with often violent confrontations between angry dog owners and the thieves."

The local government denies any official involvement or endorsement of the festival itself, and describes the event as a local custom observed by "a small percentage of Yulin's residents".