Since 2009 Yulin, Guangxi has held an annual festival of eating dog meat. This purportedly celebrates the summer solstice, however, in 2014, the municipal government published a statement that the festival is not a cultural tradition, rather, a commercial event held by restaurants and the public.[59] Various dog meat dishes and more recently, cats are eaten, washed down by lychees wine. The festival in 2011 spanned 10 days, during which 15,000 dogs were consumed.Estimates of the number of dogs eaten during the festival range between 10and 15 thousand.Festival organisers say that only dogs bred specifically for consumption are used, however, there are claims that some of the dogs purchased for slaughter and consumption are strays or stolen pets, as evidenced by their wearing collars.
Some of the dogs eaten at the festival are burnt or boiled alive and there are reports that the dogs are sometimes clubbed or beaten to death in the belief that the increased adrenalin circulating in the dog's body adds to the flavour of the meat. At the 2015 festival, there were long queues outside large 300seat eateries which sold the dog meat for around £4 per kilogram.Prior to the 2014 festival, eight dogs and their two cages sold for 1,150 yuan and six puppies for 1,200 yuan.[65] Prior to the 2015 festival, a protester bought 100 dogs for 7,000 yuan ($1,100; £710).[61] The animal rights NGO Best Volunteer Centre claims the city has more than 100 slaughterhouses, processing between 30 and 100 dogs a day. However, the Yulin Centre for Animal Disease Control and Prevention claims the city has only eight dog slaughterhouses selling approximately 200 dogs, although this increases to about 2,000 dogs during the Yulin festival.[66] There are several campaigns to stop the festival; more than 3,000,000 people have signed petitions against it on Weibo (China’s version of Twitter and a petition to stop the festival (addressed to the Chinese Minister of Agriculture, Chen Wu) reads "Do the humane thing by saying no to this festival and save the lives of countless dogs that will fall victim to this event - an event that will butcher, skin alive, beat to death etc. thousands of innocent dogs.
Some of the dogs eaten at the festival are burnt or boiled alive and there are reports that the dogs are sometimes clubbed or beaten to death in the belief that the increased adrenalin circulating in the dog's body adds to the flavour of the meat. At the 2015 festival, there were long queues outside large 300seat eateries which sold the dog meat for around £4 per kilogram.Prior to the 2014 festival, eight dogs and their two cages sold for 1,150 yuan and six puppies for 1,200 yuan.[65] Prior to the 2015 festival, a protester bought 100 dogs for 7,000 yuan ($1,100; £710).[61] The animal rights NGO Best Volunteer Centre claims the city has more than 100 slaughterhouses, processing between 30 and 100 dogs a day. However, the Yulin Centre for Animal Disease Control and Prevention claims the city has only eight dog slaughterhouses selling approximately 200 dogs, although this increases to about 2,000 dogs during the Yulin festival.[66] There are several campaigns to stop the festival; more than 3,000,000 people have signed petitions against it on Weibo (China’s version of Twitter and a petition to stop the festival (addressed to the Chinese Minister of Agriculture, Chen Wu) reads "Do the humane thing by saying no to this festival and save the lives of countless dogs that will fall victim to this event - an event that will butcher, skin alive, beat to death etc. thousands of innocent dogs.
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