China’s Yulin Dog Meat Festival
Every year, China’s Yulin Dog Meat Festival is conducted, which potentially leads to the slaughter of many canines. Now there is an initiative to decrease these inhumane killings. Many Chinese activists are exerting much effort in saving the dogs caught in the middle of the meat trade.
And in 2019, a team of anonymous Chinese activists rescued 62 canines from a slaughterhouse in Yulin. They took photographs of the poor animals’ situation. The pics show how the canines were crowded in filthy, rusty cages where captors left them to tolerate bare and concrete spaces.
One of the activists recounted that the slaughterhouse was sweltering the day they got there. Some of the dogs appeared tired and panting. Some of them even pressed themselves against the wall in an attempt not to get noticed. Others chased around them for attention.
Many Looked Sick
The group also said that they quickly noticed how some of them still wore collars, leading them to believe they were stolen. And sadly, many of them looked sick. They loaded them onto their truck to transfer them to their temporary shelter to receive emergency veterinary treatment.
The rescuer said the slaughterman told them the dogs were in the last truckload entering Yulin before the festival. The local government disallowed any more trucks from getting into the city. However, they didn’t stick around long enough to verify that during that time. Instead, they wanted to expose the horrors of China’s dog meat trade in the area. That way they could educate dog lovers worldwide to rally against this kind of cruelty.
The dogs were pulled out from the slaughterhouse on June 12 that year and were brought to a temporary facility. Once there, they could receive proper meals, water, and immediate vet care.
Soon enough, all of them were on the road to their new lives. Once malnourished and dehydrated, the rescued dogs became well-rested and recovered at the facility for a few days before rescuers took them to permanent shelters for long-term care.
The Humane Society Helped
The Humane Society International or HSI helped them look after some of the 62 canines that they pulled out from the slaughterhouses back then. They also aimed to send them to the United States for adoption as soon as they were given a clean bill of health.
In a statement during that time, Dr. Peter Li, HSI China’s Policy Specialist, described Yulin as a tense place with dog traders and slaughterhouses on high alert. This made it difficult for the activists to gain the facility’s trust in releasing the captive canines. However, he also commended the team’s efforts in exposing the animals’ sufferings to the world and the rampant dog theft that lies behind the meat trade.
He added that the dogs were traumatized and needed veterinary care but are still fortunate because the horror of Yulin came to an end for them. Still, thousands die at the festival and across China – and millions will continue to die – unless collective action is taken. Dr. Li urged the Chinese government to show that they would not tolerate the perpetuation of dog thief gangs so that the brutal cat and dog meat trade would come to an end.
HSI fears that dog meat traders would continue to snatch pets and strays on China’s streets, take them to Yulin and slaughter them for consumption, but hope they could do something immediate and widespread to discontinue this. And thankfully, recent information shows that there is already a decline in dog meat consumption in China.
This is excellent news for animal lovers everywhere. But you can still visit HSI’s website for more information regarding their work to end China’s dog meat trade.
Source: Humane Society International
