Chinese animal rights activists seek to shut annual dog meat festival

Animal rights activists are seeking to shut down an annual dog meat festival in southern China blamed for blackening the country’s international reputation as well as fueling cruelty to canines and unhygienic food handling practices.

Activists from a coalition of groups said they will continue to press for the festival to be banned as well as legislation outlawing the slaughtering of dogs and cats and the consumption of their meat.

While an estimated 10m-20m dogs are killed for their meat each year in China, the June 20 event in the city of Yulin has come to symbolise the cruelty and lack of hygiene associated with the largely unregulated industry.