Read More: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/chinese-yulin-dog-meat-festival-activists-fight-back-in-support-of-event-which-will-see-10000-cats-and-dogs-slaughtered-10326736.html

There has been much international condemnation of the annual so-called dog meat festival in Yulin. The event is in fact the city’s summer solstice festival, and will take place on the weekend of 21 and 22 June. Traditionally some 10,000 dogs and, more recently cats, are slaughtered for consumption at the event, all washed down with gallons of lychee wine. The event had taken place regularly for around 600 years and was based on military folklore. According to legend, a Ming Dynasty military victory in the 14th century was aided by soldiers killing the township’s dogs so their barking wouldn’t give their presence away.

When Peter Li, animal activist group Humane Society International’s China specialist, had arrived at 6.30am to find that the day’s main slaughtering session was already finished. The internal organs piled on the grubby floor were evidence of this. “I saw cat and dog intestines and carcasses strung up,” he says. “Workers were blow-torching the carcasses to make them shiny and ready for shipment to restaurants. There were some dogs still alive in wire cages, but they looked exhausted, emaciated and dirty.”

“One lady who owned a slaughterhouse told me that her teenage son had questioned her about why she couldn’t just do another job instead, considering all the pressure from activists,” Mr Li said. “She replied, ‘It’s our livelihood – do you think we enjoy it? Absolutely not, but it’s just what we know how to do.’”

Transporting the dogs to the festival is an intrinsically brutal operation. Dogs for Yulin come from as far as central and north China's Henan and Shandong, more than 1,000 miles away.

They are crammed into wire cages unable to extend their limbs, denied food and water for days during the exhausting trip. The dogs arrive at their destination malnourished and underweight, dehydrated, often dying from injuries or from being poisoned during capture. Others are already dead.

Read More: http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/18/opinions/china-yulin-dog-festival-peter-li/

The wire cages used to transport the animals for over 1,000 miles.

Read More: http://www.stopdogmeat.com

Do I like this? absolutely not. I love cats and dogs. They are sweet animals that want nothing more than to love and be loved. I don't promote slaughtering them in large quantities, or at all. I don't support people who eat them.

However, Mag, let me give you the perspective that I have on it. Many cultures keep pigs as pets and consider them sacred. Yet we eat them. While I don't support the idea of people eating the animals that I hold close to my heart and have as pets, but we do the same thing to other cultures.

Now, from an animal cruelty standpoint (you know, those pens and all of that). Yes, that does upset me.

For the most part, I just consider that a cultural difference, and respect their opinions. Want to eat dogs? That's fine. Just know that I don't accept it, and won't do it.

On the other hand, I eat bacon and love the stuff. I don't eat pork often (unless my step-mother cooks it) as I don't like it. However, I do so knowing that the act upsets people from other cultures as much as the eating dogs upsets me, and I respect that.

In short, I find it hypocritical to condemn people for eating dogs and not those that eat pigs. We only see dogs as pets, but some cultures view them as sacred. Which is worse. Plus, pigs are more intelligent, so meh.

PLUS if you want tot go into this any further, the way that animals raised for food in america aren't treated well either and border on animal cruelty.

It may be a cultural difference, but why stealing dogs with owners for then torturing and eating them?? I'm from a country with lots and lots of stray dogs, and I hadn't heard of a "chinese cleanup" among their packs.

Also, we say THIS is slaughter, but then, our birds and pigs and cows killing for food is...Is what?? Dogs and cats are eaten only in China, but the other animals are eaten EVERYWHERE and raised in mechanized farms. I would prefer eating a traditional-farm-raised pig or chicken, knowing they were raised with human love, not with cruelty like those dogs.

I'm feeling a bit annoyed with the Yulin Dog Meat Festival. I don't get why just because I'm Chinese, people look down on me since the Chinese do this dog-eating festival.

Anyway, I understand this is the Chinese's culture just as Americans eat cows, pigs, and so on. But what I don't understand is why they abuse the dogs before killing them. In my opinion, it's okay for them to eat the dogs, but why abuse them? What is the point? And also, stealing the dogs from owners. These are two things that make my scratch my head in confusion.

At the same time, I do and don't support this. It's the Chinese's culture. The abuse of dogs and abducting them, however, is what I'm against, not the eating of dogs.

I understand that this is just a cultural difference. Remember that in some cultures, dogs and cats are on the same level as pigs and cows; they're meat. So to some of these cultures, it's perfectly alright to eat them. This isn't just in China. It also happens in Taiwan, Mexico, Vietnam, Korea, and some parts of Switzerland. Meat is meat.
Am I fine with them eating dogs? I actually am. My dad even ate dog meat once (well he didn't know about it until after he finished the meal, but he still ate it), and my friend's relatives from Mexico even served him and his family dog meat. He even ate it because it was part of his culture, and he didn't really have a problem with it (he was a bit squeamish about it though. He told me that it doesn't taste any different from the meat we would eat in America). But I agree with what >>6 says. Stealing the dogs from their owners and abusing them is absolutely wrong.
I understand that it's a culture thing, but really...the abuse and theft was too far.
I'm alright with the consumption of dog meat, but I am against the abuse and abduction of dogs for their meat.

I don't think they steal them. I can't remember which show, maybe bizzare foods, they come across a stand selling dog. They explain it is only one species of dog raised to be eaten. Also the first picture all the dogs look the same. It doesn't seem to be an array of species. The head, body, etc. all have the same proportions. So I don't think they steal dogs.

I view it just as another animal slaughtered to eat. Everywhere animals are tightly packed and sent to a slaughter houses.

Also in Hinduism the cow is sacred and shouldn't be eaten. Also pork, in multiple religions, is wrong to eat. So I see nothing wrong with eating dogs.

This is why I live in America

</3 :(

The issue here isn't the eating of the dogs (although, I hate that part, too).
It's the burning, boiling, chopping and smashing them alive part that's barbaric and totally unecessary. Why do they need to abuse them?! We don't burn our cows and pigs alive before they hit the grocery!

Furthermore, they bring children to this so called, "festival".
Children. They watch this abuse with smiles on their faces because they were told by their parents that it was a festival.

How twisted can you get?!

i wrote a thing on missions before i saw this.

>>12 read the other posts on this thread.

everyone literally does this to every kind of animal everywhere. just because they're dogs makes no difference. yeah, they shouldnt abuse them like that, but again, everyone else does it, too.

god damn him

>>13 I feel so many are missing the main point- the center most point: That this festival has been banned in every province and every city in China.
Saying shit like "Oh, well animal anise happens everywhere, but usually not as severe as this, oh but it's still animal abuse!" So what, do you just ignore it?

The people in China are changing to the the point that Yulin is the last city with this festival. A country with 1.3 billion people are slowly weeding out such celebrated and cruel animal abuse events; that's a big thing.
So what if it happens everywhere? The People's Republic of China are saying that they don't want it there anymore. I feel like you all keep missing that.

>>15 *oops forgot name*
It's almost like you guys are saying "oh well, change can't happen because it happens in other places too". That's fairly obvious. This article isn't about shaming China; it's an example of how much progress can be made when people are united, and how there's one more city to go to rid this grotesque festival from all regions of China altogether. Now, if they want to eat healthy dogs or cats that they raise (most steal) and humanely kill, that's fine, we know this. That's not the point of the article.

>>16
EXACTLY. The inhumane part and stealing is the issue here. It doesn't matter if it's their culture. Actually, this tradition has been going on for many decades but, back then, all they did was peacefully kill the dogs and eat. How this "festival" came to be, I don't know. Why did it suddenly become a grotesque tradition? Why couldn't they do the same as before and why are they stealing pets?!

>>15>>16 you misread everything i was saying and im too lazy to explain my point

basically, if it's a places culture to eat dog, eat dog. if china doesnt want to eat dog, then dont eat dog. get rid of the festival, good for them.

however, it annoys me when people are constantly like "omFG nO The puppiez!/?@/!" when we literally treat pigs/chicken/cows the same way. do you know how we get veil? did you watch those videos on how mcdonalds treats their pigs and chickens? did you see that one news thing about the farm that lets goats walk around their slaughter house? of course animal cruelty is disgusting and wrong, and yes change should be made, but what im trying to say is that dogs arent the only thing to worry about. much less in china, i rather worry about my own country first tbh

>>17 i have yet to see a single source on them stealing pets. please enlighten me if you do find one

>>18 To be fair, everything you said was only 3 sentences. It's hard to gather exactly what you mean from that.

I fully agree with this post, people are more likely to care about dogs being abused rather than cows or pigs and it pisses me off.

>>19 why dont you understand me

Not only do we treat cows and pigs and the like the same way, but those animals are considered sacred to other religions so in some ways eating beef could be worse to some people

>>18 LOL I didn't misinterpret ANYTHING I used your exact words and talking about how others in the thread were saying something similar, and I stated >>15 why I thought focusing in the obvious wasn't the point of the article.

>>18
I would say they didn't really even read that post in >>15.

Though you would probably consider me misinterpreting your thoughts. I just view it as a festival that slaughtering is a side effect. Every slaughterhouse gets abused, or they themselves abuse, animals. In that case why not shut down all the slaughterhouses? Multiple cases in the US have been publicized about the abuse of animals. Getting a propaganda dvd from PETA exposed me to how the slaughterhouse system works. Of course it was biased, but I learned from it. They way they are killed could be considered abuse in itself. I don't have much of a problem with it, since I don't see another way of obtaining meat. Also this festival doesn't have a slaughterhouse for the dogs, so the slaughter falls onto the butchers, or the attendees.

Again I don't think these dogs are stolen. All the dogs displayed in the OP photo look like the same species of dog. All the characteristics look the same. The facial structure, size, build, etc. It seems more like those dogs were farmed to be sold, just like cattle. And like cattle the living conditions are just as bad.

>>23 China honestly doesn't have a variety of dogs. A lot of species you have to have sent to your city. A lot of species are also illegal in inner cities if they're a certain height too.

Yulin isn't exactly a rural city, but it's not one of the popular cities either, so I think this would definitely apply.

>>22 how did you use my exact words? I reread everything you posted and to me it doesnt seem like it related to anything I was saying at all. I understand the point you made but it was different than the point I was trying to make so that's why I feel like you were misinterpreting.

>>23 I feel sorry for you if you cant even imagine other ways of obtaining meat. Have you heard of those places where people sell locally grown food (including meat) on typically nice home farms where they treat animals nicely (I forget what they're called)? Have you heard of how they raise bison so they can get their meat (basically they have to treat them really weel or they die sickly)? There are more ways than resorting to a slaughterhouse.

Also PETA is a terrible source they put out this thing basically saying you kill sheep to get their wool.

>>25 yes I have heard of that, but how am I going to get a big mac from that, lol? Nah, but seriously why would I pay more, and go out of my way, for the meat when I am broke? Instead I just pick some up from the local grocery store.

Also how else are the masses suppose to get the food? If we do what you suggest then we will need local butchers in each town, which usually increases the price on meat. Slaughterhouses are the most efficient way of obtaining meat, which is usually the cheapest way as well.

So tell me how else to supply a large amount of food to the masses with the absence of slaughterhouses? Cause I can't imagine that happening in the present day world. This festival is an example of not using a slaughterhouse. Which in turn exposes the public to the slaughter of these animals.

I happened to come across a PETA propaganda dvd at a warped tour thinking it was a music video compilation. It had live footage of the insides of slaughterhouses, which is very efficient, but also would suck to work at. Again I knew it was BAISED, but I still learned a little bit.

>>26 i understand if you have less money, but my family is one of those hippie families where go out of our way to get meat from farms or places we know treat animals well.

im not really saying im against big slaughterhouses in general, what im more really against are putting animals in tight cages, treating them horribly, feeding them weird chemicals and shit to make them more "meaty", that thing they do to make veil, etc. there are companies that treat their animals nicely and sell their meat at grocery stores. bison meat is sold at ours, idk yours, and you have to raise bison well also it's way better for you than pig or cow meat.

america treats animals terrible at a large scale for their food. countries in europe still have basically the same food, but treat animals A LOT better (you can really tell differences in even their fast food too). you cant really say it's impossible to feed a large scale of people without treating animals terribly when most countries and some companies in america already do that.

What there doing at the that festival is horrid

......that's so disgusting..

Y r they so heartless to those animals and then they eat them that's just wrong

my, that is exactly what i call twisted in this world

people it cows, pigs, goats, chickens, and turkey. How is eating a cat or dog any different? Yes they are animals, but animals are also food just because we call a dog sparky doesn't mean I wouldn't eat it. Food is Food bitches.

Agreed.
People eat all kinds of animals. If you look at your pet, I don't care what kind it is, it's been served up at one place and one time or another. Food IS food; people tend to overlook that when it comes to something they recognize as pets.

One key difference to keep in mind is the intelligence and emotional levels of cats and dogs, though. When it comes to feelings, they rival humans. Dogs and cats bend over backwards to make people happy because people make them happy, it's as simple as that. On emotional levels, pets are close to people.

Which is what brings me to my actual point. The idea of people eating 'pets' can be debated over whether it's right or wrong forever. No one is going to change their opinion.

But I do wish people would keep in mind the panic, stress, and downright terror that these animals experience when they are put through cruelty treatment and abuse up until the point that they die.

I think THAT is the real problem here.

Ok,it's not so common people eating dogs in other countries, but it's just culture's things.Some people don't eat cow,but it doesn't mean that is wrong eat it.

XD

>>36 Is there something comical about this topic?

Why? Just why?

There was a petition about this. What happened? I was pretty sure it had reached it's goal.

well it is very hard and it would be a crime in other countries but you have to agree that it does't feel 100% right to ban what is legal in other countries only because it seems odd.

this is discusting..

Salutes kami_demon's comment. Although I'm somehow a pet lover (a bit) ... It's frustrating...

c'est affreux

so mean!!

Laughing at the people who saying stuff like "this post shouldn't exist." You're not gonna keep the people who have a problem with the issue from doing something about it. It's obviously an issue if it's illegal. People's livelihood doesn't matter if that includes being involved in an illegal activity. Thanks for bringing awareness to this issue and for caring about it.

Chinese people are disgusting! how could you eat something that shows you unconditional love and loyalty! I have a dog and a cat and I wouldn't eat them even if they where the last two animals on earth!

Wow how can you eat a pet..... Reminded
Me not to go there 😥

This is still an issue

Interesting. Imma learn more bout this

Those poor dogs.

wtf is this

I get that the people do it only as a means of livelihood, but I'm pretty sure there are way better occupations which may or may not yield less money. I mean, you can't convince me that this is the ONLY job available for them. There has to be better jobs, economic wise and rationality wise. Also, this is surely an illegal act so those people are probs gonna get into quite a bit of trouble if the correct people are involved.