Dogged resistance: Animal activists at the Yulin dog meat festival

Want China Times, CNS and Staff Reporter 2014-06-21

One dealer threatens to strangle the dog if no one offers a better
price. A woman instantly pays his price. (Photo/CFP)

A dealer holds a dog up by the neck.
He knows he is selling to animal lovers
who will pay for its release. (Photo/CFP)

June 21 sees the now infamous Yulin Summer Solstice Dog Meat Festival in southern China's Guangzi Zhuang autonomous region, an event that includes lots of liquor and hot pots filled with dog meat. Locals consider the event a celebration of a longstanding tradition but it is increasingly controversial as China becomes a wealthier country and many come to see dogs as pets rather than anotehr animal to be eaten.

On June 20, the sun is scorching at noon. A couple stand in front of a dog meat restaurant, plates in hand, protesting that eating dog is an atrocity. Most people just walk by but some stop to argue with them about the legality of the practice. Zhou, the husband, said he and his wife have come from another province and hope to raise local awareness of the cruelty of eating dogs on such a massive scale as the annual event.

This woman has paid US$56 to save
the dog from being eaten. (photo/CFP)

At 8pm in the evening, several animal lovers are distributing their literature in the city's downtown area. The more flyers they give away, the more angry locals come and remonstrate with them.

These are two scenes and they are far from isolated. For weeks, animal lovers having been carrying out actions such as intruding into slaughterhouses, protesting to the government, buying dogs that were set aside for slaughter and playing prayers for dogs with a loudspeaker in public. Perhaps the most melodramatic scene was the man dressed as a monk accompanied by eight volunteers praying for the souls of the dogs publicly in the local market on June 19.

Faced with the rising controversy, the Yulin government has been trying to equivocate between two groups equally convinced that right is on their side. It denies that it organizes the festival, suggests its staff avoid eating dog meat publicly, suggests restaurants remove the word dog from their signs, bans the slaughter of dogs in public, bans restaurants without licenses and bans trucks without licenses bringing in dogs from other provinces.

So many suggestions and bans. Not intended to defeat the animal lovers but to trudge a precarious middle path between the animal lovers and the local tradition.

As for the restaurants, they do not mind removing the word dog, nor do they want to make a fuss amid the countless threatening phone calls. Ning, the owner of a famous local restaurant, said she even planned to change the staff's uniform in exchange for peace. Her restaurant is legal and licensed; she pays more than US$16,000 in tax every year but she prefers to keep low profile in the current febrile atmosphere.

A staff member at another restaurant expressed similar feelings. All he wants is to get through this time of year safely. Asked what he thinks of the animal rights activists, he says, "I'm fine with them as long as they don't come making a scene in the restaurant."

At the market at 11am a fierce battle rages between activists and the vendors selling dogs to go in the restuarants' hot pots. Crowds had been gathering in the market since the early morning. There were dog dealers, dog eaters, dog lovers, reporters and rubberneckers, all with their own reason for being there.

Dog dealers know how to distinguish dog lovers from dog eaters as they try to make a sale. A dealer suddenly holds a dog in the air with an iron fork, then drops the animal to the ground, repeating this act three times. A crowd gathers and people began shouting angrily while offering prices.

As the price swells, another dealer follow suit but this time threatens to strangle his dog if no one offers a good price.

At the end of the day, 60 dogs were ransomed in this way at a cost of US$16,000. The dog lovers are pleased that these animals at least are not for the pot. The rubberneckers are satisfied with the kerfuffle; the reporters' memory cards are filled with photos; a dealer waves banknotes to a small group of cheering people.

All are happy — except for the many dogs still crammed in cages in the corner.

Related Article:

Elderly woman saves 130 dogs from dog meat festival (Video)