Photos by: Vshine
Chinese animal activists intervened to save the life of the last dog found alive at a dog meat shop in Yulin, Guangxi province, a month before the city’s horrific summer solstice dog meat festival.
The rescued dog, named Lucky by his rescuers, was found chained up outside the shop, with a sign saying dog meat for sale in front of him. The Akita was the last dog of the day scheduled for slaughter before the activists persuaded the shop keeper to give him up. There were obvious signs that he had once been a pet who likely had been stolen by dog thieves.
In light of China’s COVID-19 precautions, Chinese animal activists are urging Yulin authorities to ban the city’s annual June gathering for the so-called “Lychee and dog meat festival” during which the slaughter of dogs and cats for consumption increases.
The event launched in 2010 by dog meat traders to boost flagging sales. It begins this year on June 21st and attracts thousands of visitors from across southern China, where people will gather to eat dog meat at the city’s restaurants and stalls. Activists are appealing to local authorities to stop the mass public gathering from going forward to protect public health and animal welfare.
“The streets of Yulin are relatively quiet right now, and although you can see a few dog meat shops, stalls, and dog slaughterhouses like normal, it’s nothing compared to how it will look in mid-June,” said Liang Jia, a Guangxi activist. “While elsewhere in China, cities are in COVID-19 lockdown, it makes no sense for Yulin dog meat traders to be allowed to encourage visitors to travel across the province and into the city. Appalling animal cruelty will take place with thousands of dogs and cats bludgeoned to death, it’s an obvious public health risk. The Yulin authorities should be taking this seriously because it would be hugely embarrassing for the Yulin dog meat festival to become a super-spreader event, concluded Jia.”
Most people in China don’t eat dogs. In Yulin, polls show that 72% of citizens don’t regularly eat dog meat despite efforts by dog meat traders to promote it.
In 2020, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs made an official statement that dogs are companion animals and not “livestock” for eating.
Two major cities in mainland China – Shenzhen and Zhuhai – banned the consumption of dog and cat meat. The decision polling was supported by nearly 75% of Chinese citizens.
In our opinion, there is no difference, a life is a life. We should be encouraging a plant-based diet worldwide to eliminate the suffering of all animals killed for their meat.
“Lucky had a narrow escape because only one blowtorched dog carcass was left on sale at the shop, meaning he would have been next,” said Dr. Peter Li, China policy specialist for Humane Society International, which supports the care of dogs rescued from China’s meat trade. “But Lucky is just one of millions of dogs who suffer at the hands of dog traders across China, and one of thousands who end up in Yulin for the summer solstice event.”
