Humane Society Petition Photocall (Photo : Getty Images)
The 11 million signatures collected by animal rights activists may not have stopped the 10-day annual Yulin Dog-Meat Festival which started on Tuesday. However, it at least dented the sales of dog sellers who complained of weaker business due to international pressure from dog lovers.
Yearly, about 10 to 20 million dogs are slaughtered for the Yulin Dog-Meat Festival, according to the South China Morning Post. But because of the stronger campaign against the practice now, a butcher named Zhong said that his maximum sales for this year is five dogs daily compared to 30 the previous years, reported Shanghai Daily.
Zhong blames the campaign on poor sales that even his old customers are no longer ordering dog meat for fear of getting in trouble with the animal rights groups. Even his son, a high school student, has shunned eating dog meat with the family because of pressure from his friends.
The change of attitude of young Yulin residents toward the custom is reflected in results of a recent survey in which 64 percent of respondents from the age group 16 to 50 want the festival to stop. Another 52 percent favor banning the dog meat trade and 70 percent said they had never eaten dog meat.
Other Yulin residents, such as 46-year-old Xie Pingqing, gave up the tradition that goes back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). He explained, “The environment has changed and there is much moral pressure on dog eaters today.”
Dog meat, eaten with lychees and downed with lychee wine during summer solstice, is believed by older Yulin residents to ward off ailments.
Besides dog being man’s best friend, another reason behind the strong opposition to the festival is that a lot of the dogs slaughtered are believed to be pets stolen from their owners or from the streets. There is also the issue of cruel way the dogs are transported, stuffed in cages, while being driven to Guanxi Province with no water or food.
But then, even cats which are also eaten during the festival, are also given the same ill treatment.
