Nearly all of you will have a cat or dog that you love to bits, right? Well, in China some people take that phrase literally, as they are about to commence their annual dog meat festival. Disgusting, right? Thankfully, there are people out there trying to abolish this atrocious behaviour. Animal rights activists have said that the practice blackens the country’s international reputation as well as encouraging extreme cruelty to dogs.
Animal rights activists from various groups recently announced they have joined forces in an attempt to ban the festival in Southern China, and change the law to prevent the slaughter of cats and dogs, and to stop people from eating their meat.
You might be surprised to learn that between 10-20 million dogs are destroyed purely for meat every year in the country. However, for many, the so-called festival held on June 20th is seen as nothing more than cruelty and has a reputation for being extremely unsanitary, thus causing major health concerns.
Around 10,000 canines (many of which are stolen pets) are killed and then sold for the event held in the rural area, Guangxi Zhuang.
They are squeezed into tiny metal cages and driven hundreds of miles. When the poor animals arrive they are clubbed to death in front of the other animals. This is due to the idea that the fear factor and intense pain makes adrenaline-rich meat a more tasty bite!
If the idea of this isn’t already sickening enough, people ought to consider the health complications that come with consuming dogs. Eating dog meat spreads diseases such as Cholera, rabies, and trichinellosis. Furthermore, Guangxi is one of the worst areas in China for catching human rabies.
Although rallies and publicity on social media have had an impact on the event, such as taking the ghastly sights indoors, activists argue that the laws against dog theft and violation of dog transport are largely ignored. That said, since 2014, their government has begun to distance itself from the festival, and has tried to limit its size through closing some of the slaughterhouses.
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