Dog meat festival: healthy tradition or 'bloody carnival'

An annual dog meat festival in south China is facing harsh criticism from experts and animal rights activists, but that's not stopping local residents from standing by their tradition.

The festival is held in Yulin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, every summer solstice, which falls on Friday this year.

Local residents butcher tens of thousands of dogs on the streets, then eat the meat alongside lychee, believing the practice keeps illness at bay.

Hoping to put an end to the tradition, animal rights activists who call the event a "bloody carnival" are voicing their anger and staging protests in Yulin.

Hong Bin, an activist, said the festival is "inhumane" and people should stop this "brutal behavior."

Hong staged a protest at last year's festival and said he would do so again this year.

To call on people to realize the cruel aspects of their tradition, Hong got on his knees and bowed to dogs set to be slaughtered in a local market in Yulin last year.

"Although I am a vegetarian, I'm not against people eating meat. I just think people should behave in a more humane way," he told Xinhua.

Another concern about eating the dog meat is that many of the slaughtered dogs are strays that may have been poisoned, according to Hong, and their meat could contain viruses or poisons that could threaten human health if ingested.

Hong, who is in Yulin with a few other activists, said they will continue protesting until the festival is completely stopped.

His thoughts have been echoed by a host of animal rights bodies. On Tuesday, about 20 such organizations, including the China Small Animal Protection Association (CSAPA), issued a joint statement, urging for the festival to be canceled on the grounds that it has created a black market for stolen dogs and dog butchering in China.

Calling on the local government in Yulin to end the festival, the statement further emphasized that dog meat could have a negative public health impact, as there are no quarantine or inspection measures in place for dog meat.