People around the world have been fighting to put an end to the Yulin Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China. After a long and brutal fight, China has finally taken steps to end the Yulin festival once and for all!
The Chinese government refused to admit the existence of the festival for years, preventing any serious push to end it. The International Humane Society has fought to end the meat trade through rescue, increasing visibility, and even blocking trucks of dogs from getting to Yulin. The goal has always been to pressure the government into action.
HSIs China Policy Specialist Peter Li traveled to Yulin in March and April 2016, bringing back fresh video and photographic evidence of mass dog and cat slaughter continuing to take place in the city even outside of the festival period, something the Yulin authorities have repeatedly denied. Dog meat trade, pet protection, companion animals.
When the new party secretary, Mo Gong Ming, took office in Yulin, he enacted a ban on selling dog meat at restaurants, markets, and street vendors. The ban took effect on June 15, 2017, a week before the festival was about to begin. Selling dog meat can result in a 100,000 yuan fine (roughly $15,000 USD) and arrest. Ming’s actions are part of his plan to overhaul the public image of Yulin and create a “city of culture and civilization.” Ending the festival is a huge step in the right direction.
The festival takes the lives of thousands of dogs and cats each year. The animals are brought in from other areas of China and other Asian countries. Many of them are stolen from their families, crammed into cages and trucks—where many die of suffocation or dehydration—and brought to Yulin, where they are publicly slaughtered, beaten to death, and even cooked alive. The horrors committed each year have raised fury across the world, even garnering 11 million signatures on a petition sent to the Chinese government.
The ban although temporary, gives us hope that it will manage to destroy the market over the next few years and end the festival for good, regardless of the ban’s longevity. Thank you to everyone who has taken steps to help fight the Yulin festival!
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