Dog Days in Yulin

[Randy W]

Preparations for the 2016 festival - still 2 months away

 

Animal rights activists get an early start on push to shut down the Yulin dog meat festival for good

 

 

Peter Li, China specialist at Humane Society International, says that the annual protest campaigns are working to help stave off the slaughter with only 2,000 dogs killed during the three-day festival last year; compared to more than 10,000 in 2012 and 2013.

Li explains that local officials are feeling the pressure put on by animal rights groups, reacting by shutting down some markets and slaughterhouses and declining to attend the festivities themselves, China Daily reports. Yet again, the Humane Society International will team up with at least five other international groups this year to write directly to Beijing about closing down the festival for good.

 

and in the SCMP

 

Dog meat festival blackens China’s reputation and should be scrapped, animal rights campaigners say

[Randy W]

I think it must have been pretty easy to get them to agree to this - we haven't seen any scenes like this for a couple of years now. These are pictures I took in 2013

 

 

Yulin pledges to ban slaughter of dogs in public as controversial food festival draws near

Vow comes after Michael Tien, Hong Kong deputy to China’s legislature, meets mainland officials

 

“This will be a very long process [to outlaw the festival] ... but at least we won’t see these heinous acts [in public],” Tien said.

The NPC deputy said his next step would be to urge Beijing to draft laws against animal abuse.

“[Mainland officials] indicated that there would be a lot of resistance if I proposed a ban on eating dogs ... But they said there was no reason not to [prohibit] animal abuse,” Tien said.

According to animal rights activists, more than 10,000 dogs are killed during the festival each year.

 

 

 

I've heard it was down to around 1,000 to 2,000 last year - in the Business Insider

 

This Chinese dog-eating festival's days are numbered thanks to a massive social media campaign

Edited July 14, 2017 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

coverage from the Global Times

Yulin’s dog meat vendors cover signage

Quote

Restaurants in Yulin, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, covered the Chinese character "dog" on their signboards in order to "avoid trouble" ahead of the start of a controversial dog meat festival on Tuesday.

Fearful of the protests from animal rights activists that have inundated past festivals, many restaurants and vendors in the city covered the Chinese character for "dog" on their signboards. Some restaurants even changed their names entirely. A dog meat seller surnamed Zhou who works at the city's Dongkou market told the Global Times on Sunday that she just wanted to "avoid trouble."

Another dog meat seller surnamed Li who works near Liangbin Road told the Global Times that the government has required vendors to cover their signboards. "Recently, authorities have frequently asked to check the licenses of these restaurants and vendors, including their food sanitation permits and business licenses," Li said.

 

 

More photos from the Global Times

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Our view of the 'dog meat festival' crossing Jiangbin Lu Riverside Drive, or what the press has pretty much labeled Dog-Meat Central. I figure this was either tourists, or people LOOKING for a dog-meat restaurant.

 

 

Business ‘bad’ at dog meat festival

Source: Xinhua | June 22, 2016, Wednesday

 

“Business is especially bad this year. I could sell over 30 dogs every day in previous years, but now I can only sell five at the most,” said a butcher in the city surnamed Zhong.

Zhong, who has been in the business for 20 years, blames dog lovers, saying many of his old customers dare not buy dog meat for fear of getting into trouble.

In recent years, some protesters have gone into the streets of Yulin during the festival, kneeling down or holding protest signs in front of diners.

. . .

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the festival wasn’t an official event. The Yulin government “has never supported, organized or held a so-called Yulin dog meat festival,” she said yesterday. “It is a personal dietary preference,” she added. “There does not exist a festival that goes by the name ‘dog meat’.”

 

[Allon]

 

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the festival wasn’t an official event. The Yulin government “has never supported, organized or held a so-called Yulin dog meat festival,” she said yesterday. “It is a personal dietary preference,” she added. “There does not exist a festival that goes by the name ‘dog meat’.”

 

So like the Chinese government. Big Brother in action. Almost funny at times.

[Randy W]

 

 

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the festival wasn’t an official event. The Yulin government “has never supported, organized or held a so-called Yulin dog meat festival,” she said yesterday. “It is a personal dietary preference,” she added. “There does not exist a festival that goes by the name ‘dog meat’.”

 

So like the Chinese government. Big Brother in action. Almost funny at times.

 

 

 

It's true! It really is, simply a day on which people eat dog meat - albeit fewer and fewer participants with each year.

 

Like the lady a few posts up wheeling out her cart, there will always be vendors who serve the stuff - until and UNLESS dog meat is outlawed.

[Greg.D.]

 

 

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the festival wasn’t an official event. The Yulin government “has never supported, organized or held a so-called Yulin dog meat festival,” she said yesterday. “It is a personal dietary preference,” she added. “There does not exist a festival that goes by the name ‘dog meat’.”

 

So like the Chinese government. Big Brother in action. Almost funny at times.

 

I see it a little differently. It is true that the "festival" is only about 10 years old. And it is not a festival like "Dragon Boat Festival" (where you get days off from work) - it was just a locally organized event to promote a resource, like Cheese Curd Festival or Harvest Festival somewhere in the U.S. So the above statements are technically correct. Now, if someone was on TV tearfully confessing to taking bribes to stage the dog meat festival then I would say "So like the Chinese government".

 

Personally I am pretty neutral about people wishing to eat dog meat.

[Randy W]

A Meiguoren (Marc Ching) to the rescue! Why not just make sure that ALL dogs are sold, and that they have to move to new facilities next year? Like he says, the facilities are much less expensive than the dogs themselves. Unless he MAINTAINS OCCUPATION of the facilities himself, they may just be available again next year

InsideEdition:

American Travels to Dog Meat Festival in China to Rescue More Than 1,000 Canines

Quote

"Every year, everybody protests but it does nothing. I attack their supply chains. I go in and I shut these slaughterhouses down," Ching explained to InsideEdition.com.

He said so far, he's rescued at least 1,000 dogs from slaughterhouses in the area, and believed the festival, which started on Tuesday, may have already been impacted by his and other rescuers attempts.

"Usually at the dog market, there are a lot of vendors. A lot of those places weren't open because they didn't even have dogs," he said. Ching asked his translator pretend to be a buyer, and ask vendors why they weren't open.

They responded, "for some reason, there's a shortage of dogs."

Before he arrived in China on Sunday, he told InsideEdition.com he had set up meetings with 11 slaughterhouses, with the purpose of buying them out, and shutting them down.

. . .

Even though the amount of money Ching was willing to compensate for the operation was much lower than if they were to sell the entire supply, he convinced them that the money is good, considering owners could save on production costs and retire their business.

On this trip, he was able to eventually come to an agreement with six of the slaughterhouses, who handed over their keys and abandonned the premises with the dogs inside.

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[dan1984]

 

Randy, I am sitting here eating a piece of cheese right now as I read this post. I have a small piece every morning with coffee. I think about you at that time every morning.

 

 

What a GREAT laugh as I get ready for my last day of IV's - we have a 10AM appt with the doctor!! Thanks, Larry!

 

 

I often think of you too Randy, some for the "good" (each time I consider buying steaks and cheese in China), and some for the "bad" (all things Yulin Dog Meat Festival related), among other things, haha.............

[Randy W]

In 2010, they set up tables in the streets for the "dog meat festival". The streets turned red from all the lychee peels left behind. Restaurants, in particular one near the University, would display a dog carcass hung on a meat hook in their front window, some the year around.

 

Through 2013, the "festival" became visibly smaller, although you could still see restaurants which had added some tables just for the one day. 2013 is the last year for which I have a picture of a dog carcass hung on a meat hook.

 

Beginning in 2014, the dog meat trade pretty well went underground and increasingly hard to find, unless you knew exactly where to look.

 

As of 2016, there is almost no visible activity concerning the festival except for "dog rescuing" and dog meat tourism (people coming here expecting a "festival" because of all the publicity), although that certainly doesn't mean there isn't anything going on behind the scenes. There will ALWAYS be dog meat sold as long as it is legal to do so.

 

A foreigner in China claims to be putting together a behind-the-scenes video for a European network. I'll be interested to see what he came up with.

[amberjack1234]

I expect that it would continue even if it was illegal. Just smaller and underground.

[tsap seui]

Hey, that tasty lookin' mutt hung on his skewer looks like the dog I'd most love to poop on...Triumph the Insult Dog

[Randy W]

I expect that it would continue even if it was illegal. Just smaller and underground.

 

 

The dog meat was never on the menu at established restaurants, since it's not part of their regular supply chain - my wife and I could always go out to eat safely, even on the summer solstice (day of the "dog meat festival").

 

Yes, there is always a market for illicit menu items, even to human fetuses, from what I hear.

 

But making it illegal WOULD make it even smaller and more underground, just like you say. And the publicity would be MUCH easier to contain.

 

Otherwise, there will always be "dog rescuers" and dog meat tourists to keep the "tradition" alive.

[Randy W]

Yulin makes the National Geographic!
If enforced, it will be the ONE day of the year when dog meat is NOT available



Dog Meat Sales Reportedly Banned at Infamous Festival



Animal advocates express hope that the ban is a “nail in the coffin” for China’s trade in dog and cat meat.

In a May 17 press release, Humane Society International and the advocacy group Duo Duo Animal Welfare Project reported that the city is poised “to prohibit restaurants, street vendors and market traders from selling dog meat at the event.”

The ban, reportedly spearheaded by Mo Gong Ming, Yulin’s newly appointed Party Secretary, will come into force on June 15, one week before the festival’s scheduled June 21 opening. It will be enforced by risk of arrest and fines up to 100,000 yuan ($14,500).

. . .

In a phone interview, Humane Society International spokesperson Wendy Higgins says that the two organizations independently received news of the ban from Chinese activists and traders at Yulin’s dog meat markets. The groups don’t yet know if the ban will also cover cats, which are also slaughtered at the festival.

Li and Higgins deem it unlikely that traders will try circumventing the ban by giving away free dog meat. “Restaurants have been told to remove the dishes, and as Yulin has always been about commerce rather than culture, I think it's unlikely that traders and restaurant owners would go to the trouble of putting themselves out of pocket,” Higgins says in an email.

The groups haven’t yet seen any written documentation from Yulin’s government confirming the ban. But in a phone interview, Li says that a lack of a paper trail wouldn’t come as a surprise.

 

 

What it'll END, if successful, is the SALE of captured dogs to those activists who offer to BUY the dogs on hand in order to SAVE them from slaughter, and STOP dog meat tourists from coming here .

Dog meat has NEVER been part of a viable supply chain - very few restaurants have EVER served it, except for impromptu shacks and sidewalk vendors. The first festivals from 2010 were simply held in the streets.

Edited May 18, 2017 by Randy W (see edit history)

[amberjack1234]

 

I expect that it would continue even if it was illegal. Just smaller and underground.

 

 

The dog meat was never on the menu at established restaurants, since it's not part of their regular supply chain - my wife and I could always go out to eat safely, even on the summer solstice (day of the "dog meat festival").

 

Yes, there is always a market for illicit menu items, even to human fetuses, from what I hear.

 

But making it illegal WOULD make it even smaller and more underground, just like you say. And the publicity would be MUCH easier to contain.

 

Otherwise, there will always be "dog rescuers" and dog meat tourists to keep the "tradition" alive.

 

I remember when C-milk's (Vivian) wife had their baby ole C-milk pointed the camera out of the window and drew attention to a restaurant across the street on ground level and said that is where you can get cooked afterbirth for a meal. Convenient, right across the street from the hospital. Get 'en fresh huh!!! :sweating_buckets:

Edited May 18, 2017 by amberjack1234 (see edit history)