This year the hope is that the recent innovations introduced by the Chinese government can stop the Festival but so far there are no certainties
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himOnly a few weeks to go Festivals in Yulin, the event that attracts thousands of people from all over China for the consumption of dog meat. This year the hope is that the recent innovations introduced by the Chinese government can stop the event but so far there are no certainties.
The Festival is still scheduled despite the fact that on May 29 the Chinese authorities introduced an important change to their laws. The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has updated the National Catalog of Livestock and Poultry by eliminating cats and dogs from the list of edible animals, classifying them as pets instead.
In China, dogs and cats have been officially eliminated from the list of edible animals a few days before the Yulin Festival
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Will the Yulin Festival be canceled?
A news that had made us rejoice but unfortunately there is still no official news regarding the cancellation of the Festival, as confirmed by Davide Acito, founder of Action Project Animal who has been fighting for the end of this macabre event for years. According to what Acito revealed in an interview with Secolo XIX, the recent decision of the Chinese government is
"An important step, but which, by not placing a total ban on the trade in all its forms of slaughter dogs, does not take into account above all the black market".
Unfortunately, many of the dogs that are eaten in Yulin after being brutally killed come from the black market. According to the Humane Society International, 10 million dogs a year are killed for the dog meat trade, yet most people in China do not eat dogs. A 2017 survey revealed that even in Yulin, most people (72%) do not eat dog meat on a regular basis.
“In a matter of weeks, the dog slaughterhouses in the city of Yulin will be filled with terrified animals awaiting brutal massacres for the infamous holiday. Many of those dogs must have been stolen from houses and streets before being transported to Yulin. It will be the very beloved companions and dogs indicated in the declaration of the national government as not intended for food. The Yulin festival is a bloody spectacle that does not reflect the mood or eating habits of the majority of the Chinese people and its continuation instills the sentiment expressed by the Ministry of Agriculture. As noted by the Ministry, attitudes and appetites towards dogs have changed and so now it is time for the Yulin dog slaughterhouses to put down the butcher's knife and hand the party over to the history books, ”said Dr. Peter Li, a Chinese political specialist with Humane Society International's animal protection group, which campaigns across Asia to end the dog and cat meat trade.
Unfortunately, every year during the days of the Festival, from 21 to 30 June, over 10 thousand dogs are killed. According to Wendy Higgins, director of international media at HSI
“It is the perfect opportunity for cities across China to act according to the government's words by protecting cats and dogs from the thieves and slaughterhouses of the meat trade. If the Yulin festival goes on it will appear to be one public challenge to the words of the Ministry of Agriculture ".
Sources of reference: Human Society International, Il Secolo XIX,
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