An estimated 10 million to
20 million dogs are killed for 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 or simply picked up off the
street. They are stuffed in cages, and trucked to the city about 2,000
kilometers (1,250 miles) south of Beijing in the province of Guangxi, often
without food or water.
A city in southern China
went ahead with an annual dog-meat eating festival Tuesday 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 symbolize 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.
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 officially recognized by government or
by any regulations or laws," said an official reached by telephone at the
city government's general office.
"We hold meetings
every time before the so-called festival, discussing counter measures such as
deploying local police, business and sanitary authorities to inspect and deal
with those who sell dogs," said the official, who like many Chinese bureaucrats
would give only his surname, Liu, because he was not authorized to speak to
reporters.
Opponents this year
expanded their campaign to the United States, petitioning politicians in San
Francisco to pressure their Chinese colleagues into calling for an end to the
slaughter.
God knows what person dey eat for chinese food
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