The Yulin Dog Meat Festival occurs annually on the summer solstice and lasts ten days. It is China’s most controversial “celebration” that commemorates the eating of cat and dog meat. Consumers of the meat believe that it brings good luck. In other cases, it is tradition. Killing and feasting of the animals begins one night early on June 20. City officials order slaughterhouses to butcher the animals out of sight from downtown areas and communities and for restaurants not to advertise the dog banquets due to international condemnation of the event. In places where dog/cat consumption is more popular, the animals are publicly killed on the street. As far as the festival is concerned, the government is not involved. Before the festival begins, dogs and cats are sold to families and restaurants. One of the many shocking factors of the event is that the majority of the victims are stolen pets. Can you imagine if your beloved pet was stolen to be publicly slaughtered and eaten? 

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The cruel conditions that the animals face are unimaginable. Transporting the animals is one of the unbearable mistreatments. There are rumours that the dogs are “farmed”, but most are grabbed, stolen, poisoned, and packed into tiny cages. The crime of dog theft sustains much of the dog meat industry and often results in violent confrontations between angry dog owners and thieves. The pups come from as many as 1,000 miles away. Throughout the travel time, the dogs lack food and water. Diseases such as rabies, canine distemper, and parvovirus spread rapidly. A myriad of the animals die during the journey; some are already dead. When the dogs arrive at the festival, they are beaten, burned, and boiled alive. The animals are snared around the neck with metal hooks and dragged from cages. Some are bludgeoned and stabbed in order to be “bled out”. In some cases, they are hung or electrocuted. The terrified dogs whimper and huddle together before they are slaughtered and eaten in hot pot dishes. Their fur is burnt off with a blowtorch until they are chopped up. The animals are killed one by one, so panic spreads as the pups experience the murders of their friends. Rescuing the dogs before slaughter is expensive--buying just two dogs is over 1,000 yuan, which is approximately $150. Another appalling aspect of the event is the location. The animals are killed in marketplaces, streets, and worst of all, next to elementary schools.