Christie Lagally

When I was a child, I wanted to be a vegetarian because I saw no difference between the life and soul in my dogs eyes and the animals slaughtered for meat on my plate.  And I knew that, in some places, people eat dogs.  Consider this report from the Humane Society International about a dog meat festival in China.

Dogs Bludgeoned to Death at Inhumane Yulin Dog Meat Festival
Letter Urges Chinese Ambassadors to Canada, UK and U.S. to Take Action to End Event

(June 17, 2013) – Humane Society International CEO and President Andrew Rowan, Ph.D., sent letters urging Chinese Ambassadors to the United States, United Kingdom and Canada to work with officials in Yulin, Guangxi province, to end an inhumane annual event known as the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, where tens of thousands of dogs are bludgeoned to death in the streets for meat consumption. As outrage builds worldwide and within China against the event, Rowan sent a letter to the ambassadors on behalf of HSI supporters and members. The letters are also being sent to Yulin and Guangxi officials.

Rowan states: “Millions of animal advocates around the globe, including those in China, are protesting this inhumane, barbaric spectacle which has no place in modern society and where the butchering of tens of thousands of dogs has started and will go on for two weeks. Thousands of dogs are stuffed into and heaped on top of one another in plastic or wire crates, and are sent overland via truck on grueling, sometimes weeks-long journeys; many do not survive. Those that do survive, just barely, are then bludgeoned to death in the streets. In addition to the cruelty, this event is a public health risk because the commercial trade in dogs for meat involves the large-scale transport of dogs across international borders in Asia, and incidence of rabies has been linked to dogs in the trade. We respectfully request that the ambassadors work with Yulin officials, on behalf of all animal advocates, to end it, just as similar events elsewhere in China have been ended.”

HSI works in the region to bring about an end to the trade, where possible, and will co-host later this month the 4^th Annual China Companion Animal Protection Symposium to encourage Chinese society to confront the cruelty of the trade in dogs and cats for meat consumption. At least 10 million dogs are believed to be killed for consumption of their meat in China annually, predominantly in South China and Northeast China. Last year, a dog meat festival in Jinhua City, Zhejing province ended after opposition from Chinese animal groups.