Campaigners have called on Theresa May to ban the eating of dogs in Britain after claiming the disturbing practice is on the rise across Europe.
International canine welfare group, the World Dog Alliance (WDA), is launching a campaign in the UK this Autumn for a full ban on dog meat consumption.
Although the habit of eating canines is met with revulsion in most countries around the world, killing dogs to eat and consuming their meat is legal in Britain.
A vendor waits for buyers beside dogs in cages at a market in Yulin in southern China’s Guangxi province
The Hong Kong based WDA believes immigration from the Far East is secretly spreading the habit of eating canines across Europe.
In America, a total ban on the import, trade and consumption of dog meat, which was promoted by the WDA, is about to be put in place by US Congress and has won the backing of a series of senior MPs.
In a statement, the WDA said: ‘The UK is the first country in the world which enacts the Animal Welfare Act. It is unfortunate to see dog meat consumption being legal in this nation. The WDA believes a legal ban on eating dog meat would allow the UK to continue to have a global leading role in the field of animal protection, especially after UK leaves the EU.
‘Local citizens in the Western countries barely eat dog meat, but the WDA worries that dog meat consumption may be spread to UK with immigration. In the US, people who eat dog meat are mainly immigrants from Asia.’

Last night Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan said a ban on eating dogs is absolutely right
Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan, who owns a prize-winning cockapoo called Noodle, has urged the Prime Minister to tackle the issue.
Last night he dubbed a full ban ‘absolutely right’,The Sun reported.
Sir Alan said: ‘There is no need in the modern world for this disgusting habit. We should nip it in the bud now to make sure the practice never takes off here. A civilised country is decent to animals, so let’s be fully decent here.’

Campaigners are calling on Theresa May to ban the eating of dogs in Britain
Chairman of the All-party Parliamentary Dog Advisory Welfare Group Lisa Cameron MP said she ‘very much supported a ban on dog meat consumption in the UK’, and is ‘urging the Government to look at the matter urgently’.
An estimated 30 million dogs a year are slaughtered to be eaten, across China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia – with most stolen off the street. Dog meat it is considered both a delicacy and a health tonic.
US Congress made its decision to ban the import, trade and consumption of dog meat after concerns that immigration from the Far East had seen it increase.
The WDA has also been urging Asian countries to ban dog meat consumption.