Lychee and Dog Meat Festival


The Lychee and Dog Meat Festival is an annual celebration held in Yulin, Guangxi, China, during the summer solstice in which festival goers eat dog meat and lychees. The festival began in 2009 and spans about ten days during which thousands of dogs are reportedly consumed. The festival has drawn criticism both domestically and abroad.

Background

The festival is celebrated annually in Yulin, Guangxi, China, during the summer solstice in June, by eating dog meat and lychees. Early on, it was reported that roughly 10,000 dogs had been consumed for each annual occurrence of the festival. This number is estimated by some to have decreased to 1,000 in 2015, although these numbers are mere speculation. Throughout the 10 days of festivities, dogs are paraded in wooden crates and metal cages that are barely large enough to let the dogs stand on their feet. The dogs are the mobilized and handled with poles by excessive use of force, in which partial strangulation of animals isn't a rare occurrence. The dogs are then sold to the highest bidder and are taken to be slaughtered and cooked for consumption by festival participants and attendees.

Concerns

Animal cruelty

The festival organizers claim that the dogs are killed humanely and that "eating dog is no different from eating pork or beef". Animal rights activists and campaigners, however, claim that the animals are treated cruelly. Some media outlets, including tabloids, have alleged that dogs are intentionally tortured or boiled alive to improve the taste of their meat. Traditional Chinese Medicine, a cultural belief states that "the more the animal will suffer, the better their meat will taste, and the more medicinal purposes it will have". TCM practices have been known to locals all around China as their medicinal properties involve the torturing and hunting of hundreds of animal species.

Dog theft

Throughout the years, it has been studied that many of the dogs eaten appeared to be stolen household pets from local villages, judging by their collars, and sometimes by family members who identify their own pets.
Despite wide-spread belief that dogs consumed at the festival were bred from dog farms, in China it is estimated that there are no large-scale 'meat dog' breeding. According to a study done by Animals Asia Foundation, most dogs that are consumed are stray dogs or stolen pets. Approximately 70% of villages studied in China have 'lost dogs'.

Legality

This Festival is still held every year in China, despite the official statement that selling dog meat as food is against the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China.
According to the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law of the People's Republic of China, dogs need to be vaccinated. Dogs for eating are however, usually, not vaccinated, so they are illegal to transport or to sell.

Changes in 2020

Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, and out of pressure by world leaders, China was forced to gain international support. From February until May of 2020, just weeks before the Dog Meat Festival kicked in, Chinese leaders spoke against Yulin's practices. China’s Agriculture Ministry and Rural Affairs officially declared that dogs are companions, and shouldn't be treated as livestock.
During February, the city of Yulin made a statement to put a ban to the dog consumption market, stating that as an effort to combat coronavirus. However, the Festival resumed on June 21st, 2020, regardless of all the public declarations, international support, condemnations and petitions introduced to local and government authorities.
Despite animal activist interventions, local authorities did not give a declaration nor attempt to put a hold to the event, but they would rather just let the congregation happen even at a time where due to a global quarantine, and out of fear of a second wave of infections, the Festival itself was supposed not to take place.

Reactions

Domestic

In 2016, 1,000 dogs were rescued from the festival; the previous week 34 animals were rescued from a slaughter facility in Yulin by Humane Society International. Another 1,000 dogs were saved by Chinese activists in 2017.
Millions of Chinese in 2016 voted in support of a legislative proposal by Zhen Xiaohe, a deputy to the National People's Congress of China, to ban the dog meat trade. A petition in China at the very same year with 11 million signatures garnered calling to end the festival was presented to Yulin government offices in Beijing. Reports from 2014 and 2016 have also suggested that the majority of Chinese both on and offline disapprove of the festival. Chinese celebrities such as Fan Bingbing, Chen Kun, Sun Li and Yang Mi have also publicly expressed a distaste for the event.
In 2017, over 1,300 dogs were rescued by activists. After a tip, a truck transporting the dogs was blocked. Police confirmed that the majority of the dogs were stolen and not allowed for consumption, allowing volunteers to rescue the dogs. Up to 40% of the dogs also carried infectious diseases.

State media

In a 2014 statement released to Xinhua, Yulin's local government denies any official involvement or endorsement of the festival itself, and describes the event as a local custom observed by "a small percentage" of Yulin's residents. They attribute the branding of the event to local businesses and residents.
An editorial published by the People's Daily expressed the view that while activists understand dogs as "companion animals", neither the Chinese legal system nor the current Chinese public recognizes them with this special status. While noting the "duality" of dogs as both companions and food items, the editorial urges restraint in handling the issue and calls mutual understanding from both organizers and activists in reaching a respectful compromise.
An editorial published by huanqiu.com wrote about Western interference regarding a Chinese local event, and cited bullfighting as an example of animal cruelty to which the West has turned a blind eye. He further categorized the controversy as a part of a Western campaign against China.

Media campaigns

Campaigns have had an impact on spreading awareness of the festival around the globe. Many activists and public figures take to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and have created hashtags such as #notodogmeat,"#stopyulinforever", "#stopyulin2015", and "#stopyulin2016", and more recently "#stopyulin2020" to spread the word. Due in part to social media campaigns both in and outside of China, the number of dogs slaughtered has apparently decreased since 2013 to 1,000 in 2016, although the festival is still being held in 2020.

News

Amidst reporting on clashes between Chinese animal advocates and dog meat traders, The New York Times interviewed professor Peter J. Li of the University of Houston–Downtown on his views of the allegations from dog meat traders that local activists had introduced a harmful Western ideology into China. Li replied that the opposition to eating dog meat at the festival began with the Chinese, as "the bond between companion animals and humans is not Western. It's a transcultural phenomenon".
The director of Animal Protection and Crisis Response for Humane Society International explained in an article on CNN the reasons for his opposition to the festival and called on the Yulin government to cancel the festival.
An article in 2016 that was written by the BBC noted that the dog meat festival began in China amid widespread criticism, saying, "Activists say the event is cruel, and this year a petition calling for it to be banned collected 11 million signatures."
An article in The Guardian by Jill Robinson said that the dog meat trade is "steeped in illegality" and the reason why dogs are special and deserve kind treatment is because "they are friends and helpers of humankind." Another article by Julian Baggini that was published in the same news outlet said that what should be most appalling about the festival "is not which particular animal is being killed, but that too many animals in the West are treated nearly or just as cruelly" and that "vegans are the only group who can oppose the festival without any fear of hypocrisy".
An article in The Independent encouraged protests against the festival but also compared the festival with the 1.9 million animals "brutally slaughtered" in the UK every month and noted that "the western distinction between dogs and farm animals is completely arbitrary". An article in The Diamondback further questioned whether the large amount of criticism towards the festival was truly due to animal rights instead of cultural relativism, arguing that chickens being "drowned alive in scalding tanks" or left to "freeze to death in slaughterhouse trucks" was another cruel practice in the US that had garnered less attention.
Other columns from organisations that include Animal Outlook and Mercy for Animals have also drawn comparisons to the treatment of animals raised for food in the West, reminding their readers of similar cruelty in how they are treated.
A Huffington Post column by Julia de Cadenet of the NoToDogMeat charity told the story of Camille, a dog rescued from the dog meat trade by on the ground campaigners including herself.

Social

The outrage on social media over the 2014 festival was unprecedented. UK Charity started a global #StopYulin Campaign.
In June 2015, an online petition against the festival was started in the United Kingdom, gathering over 4 million signatures. In 2016 Humane Society International organised a petition in opposition to the dog eating festival which was signed by 11 million people worldwide.
A 2016 survey conducted by Chinese polling company Horizon, found that 64% of Chinese citizens want to see an end to the Yulin festival.

Politics

introduced, alongside 27 original cosponsors, a bipartisan resolution in 2016 which condemned the annual festival in Yulin and called on the Chinese government to prohibit the dog meat trade outright. The resolution was supported by the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Legislative Fund, and Humane Society International. In 2017, Hastings reintroduced, alongside 49 original co-sponsors, his 2016 bipartisan resolution through House Resolution 30.
The festival has also been condemned in an Early Day Motion signed by Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the UK Labour Party.
In 2018 the NoToDogMeat charity was granted Special Consultative Status by the United Nations.

Public

Celebrities including Ken Todd, Joaquin Phoenix, Matt Damon, Sia, Bill Maher, Lisa Vanderpump, Ricky Gervais, George Lopez, Ian Somerhalder, Leona Lewis, Lori Alan, Tom Kenny and Rob Zombie have publicly expressed a disgust for the festival.
In October 2015, a protest march organized by TV personalities Lisa Vanderpump and Sharon Osbourne took place from MacArthur Park to the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles.
Pink Guy made a song about the festival called "Dog Festival Directions". It appears on the 2017 album Pink Season.