Protests grow over Yulin dog meat festival

A city in southern China went ahead with an annual dog-meat eating festival despite heavy criticism and protests from animal rights activists.

Vendors slaughtered dogs and cooked their meat in dozens of restaurants across the city of Yulin, in an event that has come to symbolise the cruelty and potential for spreading disease associated with the largely unregulated industry.

Activists bought dogs from dealers who had been planning to slaughter them, while local residents complained that outsiders were ruining what they consider a local tradition.

“We came to Yulin to tell people here dogs are our friends. They should not kill dogs in such a cruel way and many of the dogs they killed are pet dogs,” said Yang Yuhua, a volunteer from the central city of Chongqing.

An estimated 10 million to 20 million dogs are killed for their meat each year in China, and the Yulin event has become a lightning rod for criticism.

Many of the dogs are believed to have been pets stolen from their owners. They are caged and trucked to the city about 2,000km south of Beijing, often without food or water.

Cats eaten at the festival are subjected to similar ill treatment.

The local government has in recent years sought to disassociate itself from the event, forbidding its employees from attending and limiting its size by shutting down some dog markets and slaughter houses.

“The so-called dog-meat eating festival has never been recognised by government or by any regulations or laws.

"We hold meetings every time, discussing counter measures such as deploying local police, business and sanitary authorities to deal with those who sell dogs,” said an official.

Opponents expanded their campaign to the US, petitioning politicians in San Francisco to pressure their Chinese colleagues into calling for an end to the slaughter.

Actors and celebrities, including Matt Damon and Joaquin Phoenix released a public service announcement calling for an end to the torture and killing of dogs in China, South Korea and other Asian nations.