Chinese city goes ahead with annual dog-meat eating festival despite protests

As many as 10,000 dogs are expected to be killed during the event in Yulin, with organisers saying eating dog meat helps people maintain a healthy metabolism

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A woman walks past a dog vendor with three animals in a cage, as he waits buyers in Yulin. Photo: AP

Published: 4:18pm, 21 Jun 2016Updated: 4:18pm, 21 Jun 2016

A city in southern China went ahead with an annual dog-meat eating festival on Tuesday despite heavy criticism and protests from animal rights activists.

An animal activist carries a dog that he has bought to save it from being eaten during the festival in Yulin. Photo: AP

Vendors slaughtered dogs and cooked their meat in dozens of restaurants across the city of Yulin, at an event that has come to symbolise the cruelty and potential for spreading disease associated with the largely unregulated industry.

We came to Yulin to tell people here dogs are our friends. They should not kill dogs in such a cruel way and many of the dogs they killed are pet dogs

Yang Yuhua, animal rights volunteer

Activists bought dogs from dealers who had been planning to slaughter them, while local residents complained that outsiders were ruining what they consider a local tradition.

“We came to Yulin to tell people here dogs are our friends,” said Yang Yuhua, a volunteer from the central city of Chongqing. “They should not kill dogs in such a cruel way and many of the dogs they killed are pet dogs.”

An estimated 10 million to 20 million dogs are killed for their meat each year in China, and the Yulin event has become a lightning rod for criticism.

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