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Li Jing

A dozen animal activists petitioned the Yulin government office in Beijing on Friday morning amid a heavy police presence, calling for an end to the controversial annual dog meat festival held in the southwest Chinese city.
Dog meat festival blackens China’s reputation and should be scrapped, animal rights campaigners say
Campaigners from several international and domestic groups have gathered more than 11 million signatures opposing the event, with this year take places on June 21.

The festival featuring dog meat hotpot and lychees with strong liquor is a cherished tradition to celebrate the summer solstice among locals in Yulin, Guangxi province.
Thousands of locals and visitors are expected to crowd food stalls on the day.
Dog-eating festival loses its bite as animal rights activists step in
According to animal rights groups including Humane Society International, Vshine Animal Protection Society and Beijing Mothers Against Animal Cruelty, thousands of dogs are killed each year for the festival.
They estimate more than 10 million dogs are slaughtered for food across China every year.
The campaigners say most of the dogs are stolen pets and strays grabbed from the streets, with many still wearing collars when they turn up at the slaughterhouse.

“China’s dog meat trade is animal abuse and criminality on a massive scale, and a stain on China’s international reputation,” said Peter Li, China policy expert at Humane Society International. “There’s no good reason for the Chinese government to tolerate this cruelty any longer.”
Yulin's dog meat festival deaf to critics
Xu Yufeng, founder of Beijing Mothers Against Animal Cruelty, said the organisation “urges the Yulin authorities to stand on the right side of history and to end the ‘festival’ in the interests of public security, food safety, social morality and China’s reputation”.

Despite the rising outcry against the festival, the Yulin government has not budged, saying many residents felt bewildered why they had to give up their tradition.
Past dog meat festivals have seen stand-offs between local dealers and animal activists trying to save dogs.
Chinese woman buys 100 dogs to stop them being eaten during festival
There are no animal welfare laws on the mainland but selling dog meat requires official sanitation certificates.
Animal rights activists reject the claim that the dog meat festival is a tradition, saying it was introduced in 2010 by dog traders to boost sales, and that the city had no previous history of mass dog slaughter and consumption.
 



Animal rights activists petition Yulin city office in Beijing against annual dog meat festival

Animal rights advocates protest outside the Yulin government office in Beijing against the city’s annual dog meat festival on Friday. Photo: AP

Humane Society International activist Peter Li holds a protest banner near the Yulin government office in Beijing on June 10, 2016. A group of Chinese and international animal activists presented a petition signed by 11 million people calling on authorities to end the annual Yulin dog meat festival. The activists claim thousands of dogs, many of the them stolen from pet owners, are slaughtered each year for the festival, which begins in the southern city of Yulin on June 21. / AFP PHOTO / GREG BAKER

IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR HUMANE SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL - A man on a motorbike sells dogs in cages in Yulin Big Market on Sunday, June 21, 2015 in Yulin, China. The Yulin “dog meat festival” is underway around the summer solstice in China. Thousands of dogs, many of them stolen pets, were trucked in from around the country by traders wanting to profit. After suffering for days crammed into cages without food or water, the animals were butchered within sight of each other. Humane Society International, working with local activists, is making major inroads to stop the cruelty, and local authorities are feeling the pressure. Between large protests, international media coverage and well over one million petitioners calling to stop the killing, progress is being made. (AP Images for Human Society International)

U.S. actress Carrie Fisher, second left, with her dog Gary being held by television vet Marc Abraham, left, pose in a group photograph with, from left, Labour party MP Rob Flello, model and reality television celebrity Lucy Watson, with her dog Digby, and a campaigner before trying to hand a petition against China's Yulin dog meat festival to the Chinese Embassy in London, Tuesday, June 7, 2016. Animal rights activists are seeking to shut down an annual summer dog meat festival in southern China blamed for blackening the country's international reputation as well as fueling extreme cruelty to canines and unhygienic food handling practices. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

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Humane groups say they have collected more than 11 million signatures opposing ‘cruel event’ that tarnishes China’s reputation


Animal rights activists petition Yulin city office in Beijing against annual dog meat festival

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Humane groups say they have collected more than 11 million signatures opposing ‘cruel event’ that tarnishes China’s reputation

Humane groups say they have collected more than 11 million signatures opposing ‘cruel event’ that tarnishes China’s reputation