A few weeks from the annual Yulin dog meat festival, dog lovers are already returning full force for the season, according to the South China Morning Post. It seems that they are unaffected with the growing pressure of ending their practice, especially after COVID-19 has gained so much attention to exotic meat consumption.
Despite the bans in some cities, the Yulin dog meat festival highlights the need for a national ban. According to animal advocate Yu Dezhi, the previous years and this year's scale of dog meat trade remains the same.
Moreover, there is still no national ban on dog meat consumption and its practice despite some cities already taking the initiative. Although this practice is not prevalent, it continues in some places, such as Yulin.
10 months ago today, 10,000 dogs were slaughtered at the Yulin Dog Meat Festival. Together, let’ s #stopyulinforever pic.twitter.com/QCsCvcE0CQ — STOP YULIN FOREVER (@stopyulinforevr) April 24, 2016
It is believed that the dog meat sold in the markets are mostly from stolen dogs or strays, sometimes killed using poison. Activists are urging China to end the practice with an animal cruelty act.
In a survey conducted in 2016 by the Humane Society International, they found that more than half said that dog meat trade should be completely banned. Still, some countries such as South Korea, Vietnam, and Switzerland eat dogs.
Moreso, the launch of the Lychee and Dog Meat festival in 2009 in a few restaurants in Yulin has drawn anger towards animal cruelty. But the local government never admitted to holding a dog meat festival, saying it was only an initiative coming from the restaurants.
The End of the Dog Consumption
Members of the general public are called upon by the Humane Society International to appeal to the Guangxi government to ban the trade on public health grounds, pointing out that the origin of the dogs and itself could pose serious health risks.
According to Mr. Peter Li, a China policy specialist at the advocacy group, "attitudes and appetites about dogs have changed, and so now it is time for Yulin's dog slaughterhouses to lay down the butcher's knife and consign the festival to the history books."
Pet welfare advocates believe that changing attitudes, tastes, and generational sensibilities will eventually end the tradition.
Other animal welfare advocates hope is optimistic that change was happening for the better.
The Need for a Nationwide Ban on Consumption of Dog Meat
The Guardian reported earlier that the Chinese government had signaled an end to human consumption of dog meat. They cited the "progress of human civilization" and the growing concern over animal welfare and the prevention of disease transmission from animals to humans.
The country's Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs singled out the dogs as forbidden to raise for meat. They called dogs as a "special companion animal" and one not recognized worldwide as livestock.
The city of Shenzhen is the first-ever in mainland China to approve the ban on consuming dog and cat meat. Their move gave hope to animal welfare groups across the globe that other countries can follow.
