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Animal rights in China
People & CultureSocial Welfare

Rescue of 68 dogs headed for slaughterhouse spotlights annual row over China’s dog meat festival

  • Some of the dogs were in poor health, while others appeared to be stolen pets
  • The festival receives much criticism worldwide every year, but it continues regardless

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68 caged dogs were rescued outside Yulin, China last week. They were reportedly on their way to be slaughtered for the annual dog meat festival. Photo: AFP
Phoebe Zhangin Shenzhen

Chinese animal activists in a southern Chinese city intercepted a truck last week filled with 68 dogs crammed into rusty wired cages headed for a slaughterhouse, likely to be eaten during the notorious dog meat festival.

According to the Humane Society International (HSI), the dogs were intercepted outside the city of Yulin, in the Guangxi autonomous region. Many of them were in poor health, and several of them offered their paws to the activists, a behaviour that suggested the animals were stolen pets.
A Guangxi animal welfare activist who wished to stay anonymous said they had hoped the authorities would confiscate the dogs as they arrived in Yulin, but decided to save the dogs themselves when there was no action.
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Butchered dogs are transported to a vendor's stall at a market during the local dog meat festival in Yulin in 2018. Photo: Reuters
Butchered dogs are transported to a vendor's stall at a market during the local dog meat festival in Yulin in 2018. Photo: Reuters

“The Yulin authorities have a responsibility to protect public health … who knows what diseases [these dogs] could carry that could end up in the food market,” the activist said.

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The dogs were moved to a temporary facility to rest, recover and receive veterinary care before workers transfer them to a shelter supported by HSI.

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