Thursday, June 18, 2015

China's Dogs and Cats Need Help

Can there be any greater betrayal of the ancient relationship between man and dog than displayed in this photograph? US Person thinks NOT. The Chinese take the cake when it comes to disgusting culinary habits. Eerything is edible there--including man's best friend. The species service to man should earn them and an exemption from being treated as a prey animal. The same rule should apply to cats too. The Yulin Dog Meat festival is held on the summer solstice every year. Ten thousand dogs are slaughtered and eaten. Cats are now on the menu too. hinese are indifferent to foreign criticism of their culinary habits, but pressure from inside Chinese society to stop the slaughter is rising. A recent discussion forum on Weibo, China's Twitter, gained 350,000 participants. In 2011 a social media campaign helped to ban a similar dog slaughter in Qianxi township, Zhejiang province. The event had been held for 600 years.

The Yulin festival began in the 1990's, but dog consumption in China predates written history.  It is popular with older generations in the south, especially in winter, when it is eaten as an ingredient in a steaming hot-pot. The dog and cat meat industry in China is largely unregulated, so no one really knows how many dogs and cats are eaten each year. A Hong Hong based animal rights group estimates 10 million dogs based on a four year investigation of the practice. People who object to the consumption of dogs claim that many dogs sold for food are stolen or lost domestic pets. Dog meat vendors' public image as blood thursty, cruel money grubbers may also be contributing to the down turn in 'dog food' popularity. Local media reports that slaughterers are threatening to use inhumane methods unless protestors buy the animals' freedom. Activists hope the Yulin "festival of cruelty" is a dying one that will be gone in five years under pressure of animal rights activists. Sign the Humane Society International's petition to stop the anachronistic stupidity.