yulin dog festival Every year on June 20, the city of Yulin (China) celebrates the arrival of the summer solstice by torturing and massacring thousands of dogs and cats … To be eaten! Explanations about a "festival" that scandalizes and challenges us about our own eating habits.
The summer solstice (June 21) is the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere, when the Sun is also the highest in the sky. It is an astronomical event celebrated around the world, most often with tributes to nature.
But not always, as evidenced by the infamous yulin dog festival in Guangxi Autonomous Province in southwestern China. For the last few years, the 21st of June has become a huge open-air banquet: up to 10,000 dogs and 4,000 cats are tortured, slaughtered, cut up, sold in pieces or eaten on the spot! Eggs conscious, some are immersed in boiling water still alive to remove their fur.
If some Chinese actually eat dogs or cats, there is little breeding of dogs for consumption, mainly because of the cost. On the other hand, stray dogs, abandoned dogs, many dogs stolen as well, unsold dogs from pet stores or shelters are the first victims of this pseudo-medicinal appetite for dog meat.
Once recovered, the dogs are transported in appalling conditions until yulin dog festival. "During the days leading up to the event, the merchants display the live animals, compressed in iron cages." Dogs and cats are brandished with a spear that wraps around their neck, killed on the spot with sticks and then bled In the opinion of the amateurs, the more the beast suffers, the more the meat will be tasty … "
Indeed, the more the dogs are tortured, the more their meat is regarded as tender, which is regarded as a pledge of virility for all the men who will eat them … These barbarous acts are made out of sight, just before the holding of yulin dog festival , a little like at home in our slaughterhouses which are closed to the public.
On this gigantic open-air market, almost everything is sold and eaten in the dog: snouts, paws, tail. Dogs are also served on the premises, fried, grilled or boiled, accompanied by lychees and strong alcohol.
yulin dog meat festival
A despicable "festival" that scandalizes
yulin dog festival , This event provokes indignation around the world: in 2015 a petition calling for the end of yulin dog festival garnered more than 4 million signatures. In 2014, the official authorities of the city of Yulin took their distance and refused to be associated with yulin dog festival , but it continues.
Many animal welfare associations make known and denounce these barbaric practices. Result: during yulin dog festival the number of slaughtered dogs was divided by 10 in 2015. But it is to forget that all year long, in Yulin, one eats dog.
As every year, the 2019 edition of yulin dog festival will be held on June 21 since it is not forbidden to eat dog meat in China
Contrary to popular belief, all Chinese do not eat meat, it is even quite uncommon, as explained by a Chinese student. Moreover, more than 9 million Chinese are demanding a law to ban the consumption of dogs but also cats, says Animals Asia.
An international petition, among many others, has been launched by Animals Asia calling for the end of this "festival" of shame.
Practices that should challenge us about our meat consumption
Eating pets is a big blow to Westerners who see the dog as a sensitive, dedicated and more or less intelligent animal. And yet, the Gauls ate dog and until the first half of the nineteenth century
Every year in China " yulin dog festival ", between 10 and 20 million dogs are killed to be eaten, while China has a herd of about 400 million pigs and imports heavily
A quota of dog meat
The American Humane Society International (HSI), however, said last month that the Chinese authorities would ban all canine meat sales during the 2017 edition. Authorities would finally have reached a compromise with the sellers by allowing two dog carcasses per et al. A quota that seemed largely exceeded this Wednesday.
"The ban does not seem to target the entire trade in dog meat. But the party looks less big than last year, with fewer dogs sacrificed to this cruel industry, "said Irene Feng, a member of the NGO Animals Asia.
10,000 dogs slaughtered for the occasion
Every year, during yulin dog festival , more than 10,000 canines are slaughtered in cruel conditions, regularly denounced by the animal defenders. Dogs are beaten to death or scalded alive.
yulin dog festival 2018: the horror continues for the dogs sacrificed for their meat
They will still be thousands of dogs and cats to be slaughtered on June 21, 2018 to serve meals in Yulin restaurants in China.
Every year, it's the same terror: during the Yulin Festival , in southern China, thousands of pets are killed for their meat. The locals have a habit of eating dog and cat accompanied by lychees to celebrate the solstice of June 21.
To serve the stalls of the city, these animals are stolen from their masters or in the streets, then transported in unworthy conditions before being dismembered alive, burned or boiled alive.
The number of animals killed divided by 10
Thanks to the work of animal welfare associations and the harmful image conveyed by yulin dog festival , the number of animals used for Yulin is decreasing. Instead of the 10,000 dogs and cats killed usually, they would have been "only" 1000 last year, according to information from Animals Asia, partner association of the 30 Million Friends Foundation.
phenomena explain this decrease: more and more associations stop trucks to force the authorities to check animal papers because identification is mandatory in China; the associations can thus collect these poor survivors. In addition, in 2017, rumors that the end of yulin dog festival was near had circulated. The government would have given instructions to restaurateurs to ask them to be more discreet …
In October 2018, Since then, with a handful of activists, they have been investigating livestock, chaining testimonies, videos and reports. During their stay in China, they intend to rely on the logistical assistance of individuals and associations opposed to the consumption of meat of cats and dogs. "Some even created sanctuaries for the animals they were able to save," says William Burkhardt, who wishes to bring back a dog. A symbolic rescue that aims, according to him, to ", so that people can draw a parallel between this animal, which attracts compassion, and the millions of animals killed in our slaughterhouses".
Also read: 100 dogs rescued after they were destined to be killed!