Chinese officials agree to monitor dog meat festival after activists protest
Government’s measures may reduce cruelty but unlikely to prevent feast
A festival dedicated to dog meat in southern China has been targeted by protesting animal lovers, who have won a minor concession from local officials, an activist said on Wednesday.
The annual festival, scheduled to take place on Friday in Guangxi province, sees dogs packed into cages before being killed, skinned and cooked -- but has met with increasing opposition from activists, highlighting China’s growing animal rights movement.
Members of the activist group the Boai Small Animal Protection Centre have been protesting in Yulin, the city which holds the festival, since early this month, calling on the local government to cancel it, group founder Du Yufeng said.
Photographs from past festivals showing dogs packed into cages and locals feasting on their meat from steaming pots have circulated on China’s popular social networking websites, leading thousands to condemn the festival as cruel.
The more we inspect, the more cruelty we discover
“This year the government has said they feel under pressure from online activism...so they have a special team to monitor the festival,” Du said.