10,000 Dogs To Be Butchered As Yulin Dog Meat Festival Begins In China Amid Protests

The controversial 10-day dog meat festival has begun in China's southern city of Yulin. This year, about 10,000 dogs and cats are expected to be butchered amid extensive opposition from animal rights activists from all over the world.

A report from Global Times said ahead of the dog meat festival, restaurants in Yulin covered and hid "dog" signages on their restaurants to avoid trouble and being mobbed by protesters.

"They know it is something disgraceful, so they try to cover the name," Wang Xiaojun, senior communications manager at international animal rights group World Animal Protection, told the Global Times on Sunday.

The festival has been condemned worldwide and has gotten bad press. Reports claim that although consumption of dog meat can be traced centuries back, Yulin Festival held every summer solstice is fairly new and is not really a tradition that needs to be preserved.

During the festivals, the animals are skinned alive and beaten to death in public before being turned to meat and sold on the streets.

According to Reuters, a petition with 11 million signatures protesting the festival has been submitted to Beijing authorities. But the petition was deemed powerless against the abhorrent activity as the government claimed they have nothing to do with it, as it is staged by private businesses.

As stated in the petition, some dogs that are killed during festival have collars, suggesting that the dogs might have been stolen pets. In addition, because of the worse condition that dogs are being subjected to before getting killed, eating their meat can be harmful to health.

"Allowing the Dog Meat Festival to continue is like endorsing dog theft, which supplies the dog meat industry," it said.

The petition also highlighted the food security issue. "Dogs sold on the market are sick, poisoned and dying animals. They suffer from horrendous conditions during the long distance, trans-provincial journeys, many days without food and water and may carry contagious disease," it said.