The twenty-first of June marks the beginning of the tenth annual lychee and dog meat festival. This dog meat festival highlights the consumption of dog meat in China.
Are you still hanging on? Because my hands are shaking as I am writing this blog post. Unfortunately, things don’t end here for the problem is so much bigger than what it seems.
But what is the origin of this gruesome festival? Is there anything that we could do to stop it? P.S: There might be a glimpse of hope waiting for us at the end of the tunnel.
Table of Contents
When did the dog meat festival start?
The Yulin festival started ten years ago. But if we track the timeline of China’s history, we’ll see that it started almost four centuries ago.
Also, this isn’t just a Chinese practice. Dog eating is widespread throughout other countries in Asia. Now it’s important to note that not all Chinese people consume dog meat.
The vast majority of them either don’t consume it or are advocating to ban dog meat. Look at this chart from Horizon!
Dog meat consumption has been declining since 2015, but it’s still a pressing issue that needs to get addressed. The government no longer backs this event since 2014. However, people still celebrate the Yulin festival every year in the summer.
To learn more about this festival, read my What is the Chinese dog festival and other FAQ blog post.
Dog meat festival – Why can’t they ban the festival?
Unfortunately, it is currently impossible for the Chinese government to ban the dog meat festival because consuming dog meat is not illegal.
Banning something that is legally allowed to take place throughout the rest of the year doesn’t make any sense. It might even be a bit hypocritical, and also not very effective.
Things are much worse than what they seem to be
The amount of dog meat slaughtered and consumed during the dog meat festival makes up less than half a percent of what is consumed throughout the year.
The dog meat festival is the reason why more people are aware of this controversial topic. However, many people are failing to realize that the Yulin dog meat festival is nothing but the tip of the iceberg.
The issue is so much bigger than what meets the eye. That is why we should focus on ending dog meat consumption and not banning the festival.
Banning dog meat consumption will eradicate this brutal practice of eating our beloved four-legged companions. However, banning the festival will just stop people from eating dog meat for ten days out of the year.
Change is in the air, so don’t get scared
A lot of Chinese and Asian people are creating and joining activism movements and fighting for our precious dogs’ rights. Just because they haven’t been able to end it yet, doesn’t mean that their tactics aren’t effective.
They’re definitely making noticeable progress (I will explain how very soon), so the future for animal rights in China actually looks promising.
For example, Animals Asia was able to expose dog meat industry. This barbaric industry once claimed that all of their dog meat comes from their dog farms.
Now, I know that the idea of farming dogs is just as disturbing, but the industry lied about their meat source. After doing their research, Animals Asia uncovered that these dog farms barely had any dogs.
Exposing the dog meat industry’s lies
Most farms had less than fifty dogs, while the amount of dog meat available in the market exceeds that. The industry’s source of dog meat stems from illegal and inhumane actions.
The majority of dog’s meat comes from kidnapped or strayed dogs. These kidnapped dogs are crammed into small cages, where each little cage is compacted with multiple dogs.
This is illegal, as it also violates the food safety regulations. Diseases can spread easily among the dogs because they’re compacted in small cages.
When this information became known, the authorities forced almost one hundred restaurants to either stop selling dog meat or completely shut down.
In my opinion, these might seem like small steps, but their size shouldn’t diminish the greatness behind them. The fact the authorities are stepping in because of an animal rights activist groups is actually a big deal.
This makes the little seeds of hope sprout and begin to grow. It also shows that our goal is achievable and absolutely possible.
Can we stop or ban the dog meat festival
Like I previously mentioned, we should focus on stopping dog meat consumption, and not the festival. So if we change the question to ” Can we stop or ban dog meat consumption,” then I truly believe that we can do that.
All we can do is raise awareness throughout different platforms and donate to organizations that advocate for animal rights and that are truly making changes and progressing towards your goals.
Don’t forget to make some thorough research before you donate to any organization since some of them turn out to be nothing but a scam.
The one I have read a lot about is Animals Asia. They’ve already made impactful changes when it comes to the welfare of dogs and cats. You can read more about them here. If you can, consider donating to them.
Don’t forget to spread the message and tell everyone you know about this brutality. With the small, yet impactful change that has been happening throughout the past few years, hope definitely exists.
Let me know if you know other organizations that are working on stopping dog meat sonsumptions in the comments down below.
