Cruel tradition: Chinese slaughter thousands of dogs
At the annual "Dog Meat Festival", which started in the Chinese city of Yulin on June 21, thousands of dogs are being crammed into rusty cages for the "slaughter festival". transported, where they suffer unimaginable torments, before they are eaten. According to animal rights activists, more than 10,000 dogs and even cats could be affected each year.
The animals are terribly tormented
As seen on several Youtube videos, some animals are skinned and spiked alive. Others are beaten and hanged with iron bars or suffocated in plastic bags.
The faith of the people in Yulin: who eats dog to the summer solstice, can count on a year full of luck. And: The more the animals suffer, the tastier and healthier the meat is. The meat is traditionally served with lychees and alcohol at the festival.
Where do the dogs come from?
According to dog traders in Yulin, the animals are bred specifically for the festival, but apparently they are often stolen by animal traffickers in the street? that too can be seen in the videos. Many dogs still wear their collar when they are brought to the festival.
The resistance is growing
Animal rights activists around the world have been protesting for years against the "Yulin Dog Meat Festival", even within China, the criticism of the? Schlachtfest? continuiously louder.
For example, activist Marc Ching and his colleagues from The Animal Hope & Wellness Foundation were able to save around 1000 animals from slaughterhouses in the run-up to the festival, as he reports on his Facebook page.
And stars like Matt Damon, Pamela Anderson and Joaquin Phoenix want to stop the cruel tradition with a video in which they report visibly moved by the agony of the animals:
Further information
On Youtube you can watch the 30-minute documentary Hot Dog - The Real Truth Of Yulin about the bad conditions at the "Dog Meat Festival". The director is Du Yufeng, the founder of the "Bo Ai Animal Center" in Guangyuan. In the film, the animal rights activist says that also in other regions of Asia dogs and cats are killed and consumed at the summer solstice in a similar way.
At www.change.org you can sign a petition against the cruel practice.
