Hei-hei is 3 years old. She loves snoozing spread-eagled on her back, playing with a football, and sausages. And were she not rescued from a construction site as a puppy, Hei-hei may well have now have been eaten. An estimated 10 million dogs are devoured across China each year, including around 10, that end up at the infamous Yulin Dog Meat Festival, which kicks off once again on June 21 in Guangxi.
But perhaps not for long. Last Friday, dozens of protesters gathered at the Yulin government offices in Beijing to present a petition of 11 million signatures demanding the festival's abolition. The event should end, she added, "in the interests of public security, food safety, social morality and China's reputation. Every culture has its culinary peccadillos, and China has a long history of eating dogs. The practice predates written annals, and even the craftsmen who created the famed Terracotta Army were partial, according to a new study.
It is a habit mirrored in other Asian nations — from Cambodia and Vietnam to Korea. At Yulin, there's also a superstition about bringing good fortune at the summer solstice.
China has less than recognized dog farms, most of which are very small, s ay animal-rights activists, keeping around 30 adult dogs at any one time to prevent the incidence and spread of diseases. The above farmer, who asks to remain anonymous, keeps just 50 young and mature animals, and says it takes six or seven months until dogs are ready for slaughter. This tiny capacity means that the vast majority of the canines eaten in China are strays and pilfered pets warning: distressing link.
Dog owners across the country have to be on red alert for snatch thieves in the run-up to Yulin. While eating dog has ancient roots, Yulin's supporters can't pretend that the festival has precedent. The event only started in the s and isn't official — the local authorities even deny there is a festival as such.
