Every year on June 21, the “Dog Meat Festival” will be held in China, Yulin. This local tradition began in the 1990s, at first, it was a local practice intended to celebrate the summer solstice. Later it became very popular and attracted many visitors from the other city came to Yulin for eating dog. Since the traditional Chinese medicine stated that the dog meat can improve human’s health. Many of Chinese people consider dog meat is healthy food, by eating dog meat can bring good luck and health. As the result, at least, 10,000 dogs were killed every year during the “Yulin Dog Meat Festival” according to China Daily, the English news portal in China.
I request that the Yulin Municipal People’s Government should stop the Yulin Dog Meat Festival” because I believe this local tradition lost their original intent to celebrate the summer solstice. Instead, the “Dog Meat Festival” became a business operation that injurious to the public interest.
First, the “Dog Meat Festival” had increased the crime rate in Yulin. Since at least 10,000 dogs were killed in Yulin, but there is no legal dog farm in China, the markets tremendous demand for dog meat always exceeds the local supply. So many of the dog was got through illegal channels, such as stealing and snatching, or poison the dog. If the government let the “Yulin Dog Meat Festival” continue is like allowing the theft continue stealing the dogs.
Second, the food safety issue of the “Dog Meat Festival”. Since the dog was got through illegal channels, some of the dog was killed by poison during the capture, or some of the dog were the homeless dog and it was already sick. According to a report form “Modern Preventive Medicine”, a medical magazine in China. 505 rabies cases were reported in Yulin between 1999 and 2008. All of the infected people died from this disease. Sick dogs can pass illnesses to humans after eating the meat from the sick dogs. The government shouldn’t ignore this public health issue.
Finally, since there are very few of the legal animal slaughter factory in Yulin, the dog was cruelly killed. Most of the living dog sold on the market will be killed by the seller after the dealing finished, usually, the dog seller will cut the dog’s throat, and the dog will bleed to dead. Or the seller would just beat the dog until it dead. During the festival, the streets of Yulin flow with dog blood, since dogs are often slaughtered in public. I believe these bloody animal mutilations shouldn’t exist in a modern civilized society.
Even though the “Dog Meat Festival” attract tourists come to Yulin, and boost the development of tourism and local economics, but I believe it lost the original intend to celebrate the summer solstice. It became a festival for business purposes that injurious to the public interest. We are looking forward the government to end the “Yulin Dog Meat Festival” to end the serious issue of increasing of the crime rate, food safety, and cruelty to animals.
