Charity urges westerners holidaying in China to avoid Yulin dog meat festival

A London charity is urging westerners to stay away from the Yulin Dog Meat festival, warning that disaster tourism’ will only ‘make the cruel event even worse’. 

The Yulin Lychee and Dog Meat Festival, which began around 2010, sees dogs and cats – who are often stolen pets – brutally tortured and killed in the street before they are made into dishes for stalls and restaurants to serve.

Over the 10-day festival, it is thought that up to 10,000 dogs and 5,000 cats are killed and eaten.

Now charity NoToDogMeat, which operates two shelters for rescued dogs in China, says that even those attending the festival in protest risk ’emboldening the festival organisers’ who could escalate levels of animal cruelty.

It is believed that torturing the animals before they are killed, in ways that include hanging, beating, and blowtorching among others, makes the meat tastier, and so butchers have been documented carrying out these acts during the 10-day event. 

According to the charity, animals killed and consumed at the event are ‘not bred for meat’, and it says many are rounded up strays as well as stolen pets who are ‘often still wearing collars and leads when they go to slaughter’. 

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the festival was scaled back as travel to Yulin was restricted even in China, and international travel was forbidden.

But as restrictions lift, the charity fears that that the festival will scale up again, and says it is bracing itself for an ‘onslaught of suffering’.

NoToDogMeat was founded by London-based lawyer Julia de Cadenet, 50, in 2009.

Talking about this year’s event, she said: ‘People think that by going to the festival and taking pictures they are somehow helping the cause, and of course there are some people who go to enjoy the horrific spectacle.

‘While there is no helping the latter, we are appealing to anyone who thinks they will visit to leave it to animal rights groups and professionals. 

‘All you are doing is emboldening the festival organisers who will think “well let’s give them something to see”. 

‘It is a vicious circle and we are bracing ourselves for an onslaught of suffering this year.’ 

It is believed that torturing animals before they are eaten makes the meat tastier, and so acts of cruelty have been documented at the festival

The charity has rescued hundreds of animals destined for slaughter at the festival, flagging down trucks headed to the city carrying dogs. 

According to the organisation, many of these trucks ‘do not have the proper paperwork for transporting live animals’.

As a result, the dogs can be seized by authorities, and later turned over to the care of campaigners.

NoToDogMeat is currently housing 750 dogs at shelters in Beijing and Hebei, and for the first time since the pandemic will be able to transport them to loving homes abroad.

According to Julia: ‘The pandemic caused us so many problems, but the plus side was that there were less dogs being transported to Yulin. 

‘Now that travel is back on, we really are fearful of what is to come, and are trying hard to raise a fighting fund to help us save as many as we can from a terrible fate.’

Yulin is an ancient city in China known for holding a dog meat festival from 21 to 30 June, purportedly to celebrate the summer solstice where an estimated 10,000 dogs and cats are killed and eaten each year.

But despite often being marketed as a ‘traditional’ or ‘ancient’ festival, it has only been taking place for around a decade. 

It is estimated that in China alone, 10 to 15 million dogs are eaten annually – some figures say 50,000 per day and 4 to 5 million cats.

However, polls show the majority of Chinese people do not support the dog and cat meat trade.

The charity is currently caring for around 750 dogs it has rescued from a certain death in the dog meat trade

Additionally, around 72 per cent of Yulin residents say they don’t eat dog meat regularly, despite traders’ efforts to promote it. 

The work of international organisations like NoToDogMeat as well as Chinese organisations and activists mean progress has been made in working towards an end to the brutal trade. 

Shenzhen and Zhuhai, became the first cities in mainline China to outlaw dog and cat meat sales and consumption in April 2020. 

Outside of China, dog meat is banned in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines, Siem Reap province in Cambodia, and in 17 cities and regencies in Indonesia. 

However, around 30 million dogs a year are thought to be killed for meat in other parts of Asia.