What is Yulin Dog Meat Festival? Inside the barbaric tradition set to return this month
GUANGXI, CHINA: Distressing images of caged puppies and dog corpses have emerged from the Chinese countryside as they are set to be brought to the country's most controversial event, the Yulin Dog Meat Festival. The annual festival, which is also known as the Lychee and Dog Meat Festival, begins on June 21.
The event witnesses brutal torture and slaying of cats and dogs in the street. The bodies are then given to stalls and restaurants to serve them as dishes. The animals are consumed at the festival for a period of 10 days, according to Daily Mail.
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What is the Yulin Dog Meat Festival?
The Yulin Dog Meat Festival which first took place in 2009 in Yulin, a city in the Guangxi province of southern China is conducted during one of the hottest weeks of the year. The festival from June 21 to 30 follows the Chinese dog-eating tradition.
While some believe dog meat will prevent them from disease and will also increase men's sexual performance, folklore says that meat eating especially during the summer months brings good health and luck.
Talking about the event, Peter Li, the Humane Society International's China policy expert told Newsweek that "there is very little about this week in June that would be recognizable as festivities or celebration."
"It is a week-long period during which dog meat is eaten in greater volume than normal, and visitors from other locations in China come to the city to visit the dog meat restaurants and markets," he said.
Why is the festival controversial?
The dog meat festival in Yulin was held even during the pandemic though it witnessed a decrease in the number of visitors at the time. However, the festival is expected to have a rise in visitors from across the world this time as currently the Covid travel rules have been relaxed.
This event in China where eating dogs is not illegal has faced backlash for the past many years over the method of slaughter and the hygiene practices at the place. The dog trade increases the risk of cholera and mainly spreads rabies as warned by the World Health Organization.
'SayNoToDogMeat' campaigners say Guangxi province is massacring the innocent
The 'SayNoToDogMeat' charity campaigners have attempted to expose the festival for its inhumane manner of killing dogs. The charity focuses on rescuing as many dogs as possible and is attempting to document the gruesome methods of slaughter at the event.
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"This is the most devastating part of my life, and every year we see things that are so traumatic. But as a charity we will not look away, and will do all we can to help the dogs," said Qin Xi Zhao, who runs the 'NoDogMeat' charity's largest shelter in Hebei.
"For too long, Beijing abetted by the West speaks of Yulin as some backward city in a forgotten province with some cultural festival of feasting on dogs once a year and drinking Lychee wine to celebrate the summer solstice, but this just isn't the case," he said and noted, "Guangxi province is massacring the innocent."
Yulin Dog Meat Festival is 'unlikely to stop anytime soon'
'NoToDogMeat' was founded in 2009 by London lawyer Julia de Cadenet who witnessed the shocking killing herself. "The dog meat trade is still thriving in Guangxi province and is unlikely to stop anytime soon," Cadenet said.
"Traders even complain their livelihood is being interfered with by animal rights groups, but selling dogs for as high as 1800 RMB a pop is just what they are doing with all this black market money they are getting," she added.
The organization has also found that the festival also hosts live slaughter conducted for the start of the event. "Despite our team being Chinese, the locals are suspicious and unfriendly, but our brave activists, tears mingling with the sweat from the heat, continue to take footage and wear their NoToDogMeat shirts in a silent act of defiance against this brutality," Cadenet reported.