Dog meat eaters under fire

Animal rights activists protest dog meat eating festival in the city of Yulin in Guangxi.

A southern Chinese city has again come under fire for its annual Summer Solstice festival during which thousands of dogs are slaughtered and eaten.

Some residents of the city of Yulin, in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region started gathering a week earlier to eat dog meat and lychees to celebrate "Xiazhi", the longest day of the year. The residents were hoping to avoid protests by animal rights activists but the event sparked a national debate over whether it is still ethical to eat dog meat.

This is a dog slaughter house. Animal rights activists surreptitiously shot this video of more than ten dogs waiting to be slaughtered.

Government investigators declared the site illegal only because operators had not obtained a proper certificate.

"Every dog must have a quarantine certificate to prove that the dog has gone through inspections and doesn't have a disease like rabies," an investigator said.

Dog meat remains a popular dish in many parts of China. In Yulin, eating dog meat and lychee and having a drinking of liquor on the Summer Solstice is supposed to keep people healthy during winter.

The dog-meat eaters know they're causing a controversy, and this year held their traditional celebration a week earlier hoping to avoid notoriety and protests. But activists, who say many of the slaughtered dogs are stolen pets, got wind of the manoeuvre through social media and descended on the city in protest.

The owner of a dog meat restaurant blamed the media for a drop in sales.

Resident of the city are divided over the controversy. Some are nonchalant about the tradition, while pet owners are more adamant.

Eating dog meat is tradition in some part of China that dates back 2,000 years.

Unlike in many Western countries where dogs are considered "man's best friend", people in China have traditionally kept canines as watchdogs or hunting dogs, that can be used as a source of food during times of scarcity.

Only recently have dogs become household pets, which sociologists suggest is a sign of increasing affluence and changing attitudes.