The cruellest festival in the world? China holds its summer solstice DOG-EATING event

[Harvey Specter]

I'm speechless...

Residents have begun killing and eating dogs early in celebration of the summer solstice in a bid to avoid protests by animal rights campaigners.
Some residents of the southern Chinese city of Yulin started gathering last weekend and eating dog meat and lychees to celebrate the longest day of the year, ahead of Saturday's actual solstice, state media reported.
The locals wanted to avoid protests which have in recent years seen the festival, slaughterhouses and markets selling dogs targeted as part of a social media campaign and ongoing online petition against the practice.

Pictures of the dead dogs have spoiler tags;

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The public uproar reflects the increasing affluence of ordinary Chinese, who keep pets, travel overseas and are changing attitudes toward traditions they may not have questioned before.
Photos on state media showed groups of Yulin city residents tucking into plates of meat and vegetables around dining tables strewn with lychees. Other photos, which circulated widely on Chinese microblogs, were of skinned, cooked dogs hanging from hooks at street stalls or piled on tables.
Under the Yulin tradition, eating dog and lychee and drinking liquor on the solstice is supposed to make people stay healthy during winter. It is unclear if the supposed health benefits diminish if the feast occurs before the actual solstice.

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Animal rights activists say the event is a public health risk because the dogs undergo no quarantine to ensure they are free of disease, and that they are strays grabbed off streets around the country, as well as allegedly stolen from pet owners. The dogs are often poisoned with toxic chemicals that could be harmful to humans, they say.

Deng Yidan, an activist with Animals Asia, said the public backlash hurts the image of Yulin and China.
'Negative coverage is growing — dog theft, criminal activities, food hygiene issues, and rabies fears — not to mention the division in society between those for and against the festival — together these have brought significantly more negative publicity to Yulin than economic benefits,' Deng said in a statement.

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The Yulin government has sought to distance itself from the feasting, saying it is not officially endorsed. State media reports say the government told restaurants to remove references to dog meat from their menus and signboards — though it did not ban the sale and consumption of the meat, which is not illegal in China.
The government has denied the formal existence of such a festival, saying it is a culinary habit practiced only by some businesses and people.
Public pressure stopped another dog meat festival, in eastern Zhejiang province, which was cancelled in 2011 despite dating back hundreds of years.


Read more: China under fire for celebrating summer solstice with DOG-EATING event | Mail Online
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[$_$]

Again I don't understand why it's cruel and unusual to eat dogs but perfectly okay to eat cows and chicken and pigs. There are breeding farms that breed dogs for the purpose of consumption, how is that any different than beef and chicken? Is eating kangaroos not okay? Is eating insects not okay? Rabbits? Guinea pigs? What about snakes? Just because the western culture finds dogs adorable should not mean that they should trample on other people's traditional cuisines. Some places like India treat cows which we massacre as Gods.

[SkinnyPupp]

I have nothing against eating any animal in particular, but the way they treat the dogs is what disturbs me.

These people aren't normal farmers who herd cattle or sheep on a ranch, these are people who roam the streets looking for strays, and locking them up in cages... And I'm sure we've all seen the footage of what happens after that.

[EmperorIS]

I'm just glad they aren't eating babies......

[badboy]

^well there is a bit of a population crisis over there so...

[Gululu]

Wtf is a summer solstice DOG-EATING event? never heard of such bullshit event.
I'm 100% sure this is just another round of attacks by western media to make china look bad. this tactics is old.
also, notice they are using old photos, not current by half a decade.
dog ownership is rising so high that the pet business is booming. i personally know so many dog lovers, this simply wont happen in today's china.

[EmperorIS]

Originally Posted by Gululu

Wtf is a summer solstice DOG-EATING event? never heard of such bullshit event.
I'm 100% sure this is just another round of attacks by western media to make china look bad. this tactics is old.
also, notice they are using old photos, not current by half a decade.
dog ownership is rising so high that the pet business is booming. i personally know so many dog lovers, this simply wont happen in today's china.

its probably one village in China consisting of like 30 people who has one really old tradition where they were so poor before they had to eat dogs to survive. But now a western media found out about it and made a big deal out of it.

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by Gululu

Wtf is a summer solstice DOG-EATING event? never heard of such bullshit event.
I'm 100% sure this is just another round of attacks by western media to make china look bad. this tactics is old.
also, notice they are using old photos, not current by half a decade.
dog ownership is rising so high that the pet business is booming. i personally know so many dog lovers, this simply wont happen in today's china.

It's very real, they protest this every year in Hong Kong

Why is it that whenever there's a negative story about China, it's automatically "western propaganda"?

[320icar]

Originally Posted by Gululu

Wtf is a summer solstice DOG-EATING event? never heard of such bullshit event.
I'm 100% sure this is just another round of attacks by western media to make china look bad. this tactics is old.

mainland china needs no help from western society to make themselves look bad.

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by EmperorIS

its probably one village in China consisting of like 30 people who has one really old tradition where they were so poor before they had to eat dogs to survive. But now a western media found out about it and made a big deal out of it.

Dog and cat eating is very prevalent all over china. Hell one time I saw a cat hanging in the window at a dim sum restaurant in guangzhou, right next to the char siu and roast duck.

It's a very taboo thing in most places, but not china. Hell even villagers in hong kong are somewhat infamous for eating stray mongrels. Dog rescuers have to take care in who they allow to adopt their dogs.

[scottsman]

Living in Vietnam I wouldn't say eating dogs is common but a decent amount of people still eat it on a regular basis, less in the bigger cities and more in the countryside as well. Probably more prevalent in the north which boarders China.

The pictures you have presented as so called "evidence" is extremely misleading as well. You take pictures from what looks like a pretty big dog market and then have pictures of random breeds of dogs in cages. Who is to say the pictures of the roasted dogs are not from a proper breeding farm? All the dogs that are roasted look about the same size, shape, etc...

Really the thing that needs to be done about dog consumption is how they are treated, transported and most importantly where they come from. The actual consumption of the meat is not an issue.

[Nlkko]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

I have nothing against eating any animal in particular, but the way they treat the dogs is what disturbs me.

These people aren't normal farmers who herd cattle or sheep on a ranch, these are people who roam the streets looking for strays, and locking them up in cages... And I'm sure we've all seen the footage of what happens after that.

This. There exists many lowest scums on Earth who roam the street and would not hesitate to bait, drug and kill your pet dog to sell for money. Rural or urban area alike. They even bait and kill dogs inside gated houses.

No idea about China but this is not uncommon in Vietnam. Better not let that pet dog out of your sight because it's as good as dead if you do.

[GS8]

So is the issue with eating Dogs or is the issue with theft, poisoning and inhumane treatment of the Dogs? I couldn't tell based on the stupid comments left in the link's comment section.

Because any animal for consumption especially one of traditional and cultural purpose should be killed humanely and the people should behave with ethical standards in mind. The animals should be treated with respect and held in high regard due to their 'sacrifice' for this feast.

If people are running around, sweeping up strays and other's pets, then that is just dumb, greedy and fucking dangerous. I am against that.

But I have nothing against what people eat in their culture. It's not as if the domesticated dog is going extinct. They will breed and breed. People need to eat. We came from a hunter / gatherer society and depended on livestock to settle down and build cities. We didn't kill them because we were monsters. We killed them because they served us and helped us grow so we could breed more of them and repeat the cycle in a responsible manner.

But you can't use logic against a dumb ignorant fuck swept up in Disney movies and Facebook.

[rsx]

I'm a meat eater. I own a dog, and I don't see anything wrong with eating dogs so long as they're bred and treated humanely.

I've always held the position that animals being killed at shelters, ie:cats/dogs or those rabbits in victoria, should all be food for the homeless.

[nma]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

I have nothing against eating any animal in particular, but the way they treat the dogs is what disturbs me.

These people aren't normal farmers who herd cattle or sheep on a ranch, these are people who roam the streets looking for strays, and locking them up in cages... And I'm sure we've all seen the footage of what happens after that.

I'm pretty sure most animals for consumption get treated like shit.. NOT ALL but most.

[StylinRed]

reading some of the comments on these "animal lovers" sites are hilarious "dogs aren't livestock! you can't torture them that way, they're here to serve us" goes on to wish chinese death and "god created dogs to honor us"

the story reminds me that i've got lychees in the fridge

[zilley]

as gay as this may sound, this really breaks my heart as a dog lover/owner.

[white rocket]

Originally Posted by zilley

as gay as this may sound, this really breaks my heart as a dog lover/owner.

My heart just broke a little bit. It really comes down to the way they are treated while they are alive. Once the animal is dead then it shouldn't matter right? Suffering and distress is the issue; not the consumption of the meat.

[Qmx323]

I love my dogs but lets be honest, dogs are animals and if humans were placed in a situation where the only meat source were dogs... then by all means eat them.

For those who use the "but they're our pets" argument, people out there have pigs and cows as pets... and look what we do to them
Side note: dogs look like giant rats without hair

[underscore]

I have no issue with what people eat, only how it is treated prior to consumption.

[$_$]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

I have nothing against eating any animal in particular, but the way they treat the dogs is what disturbs me.

These people aren't normal farmers who herd cattle or sheep on a ranch, these are people who roam the streets looking for strays, and locking them up in cages... And I'm sure we've all seen the footage of what happens after that.

When's the last time you saw a cattle or sheep farm that's being used for mass consumption? The meat you eat comes from a cow/sheep/pig/chicken factory, not some farm wonderland utopia. The get bred in Factory A, gets put on a conveyor belt to Factory B where they get slaughted and bled out, then to Factory C to get cut up, and then to Factory D to get packaged.

Let's pretend for a moment that your assumption is correct, that "some of these dogs are from these guys that go around preying on strays and putting them in cages” - please explain to me how that's any different than you going out with a camouflage suit and hunting a deer or a pigeon to eat. Just because we live in an urban environment that somehow makes hunting animals for the purpose of killing them and eating their flesh not morally acceptable? I don't see people making a huge fuss over bear hunting and people don't even eat that shit. What's going to happen to those strays anyway? Already we know nobody gives a shit about them, and there are huge stray dogs population problems all over, causing nuisances to people. Best case scenario it gets picked up by the local animal control and gets put down in a quick and what I hope is painless death. Worst case scenario it continues to forage the city for scraps of garbage and dies in a multitude of ways. In an area of the world where protein is a luxury for the local population, who are you to say that it's not acceptable to eat what's available to their indigenous environment?

But let's backtrack and be realistic here. If you were a restaurant that serves dogs or cats as a delicacy, you ain't gonna be buying strays to serve to your customers because it's gonna taste like shit. Food is all about fresh ingredients, and nobody's going to buy sick stray dogs to serve to their clients just like they won't buy sick cows that weren't bred properly that has a 100% diet of garbage. Like I already said, people breed these animals for food because they like how it tastes and it's supposed to be healthy for you. The assumption that there are somehow bandits of these "dog predators" who "kidnap" people's pet so they can cook and eat them is ridiculous. Why would anyone go through the trouble of going through all of that when dogs are notoriously easy to breed?

If anyone wants to campaign against animal cruelty, all the power to them. I love dogs, and I also love cows and chickens. Animal cruelty is fucked up but universal and the source of the meat should not matter. Don't discriminate and don't tell other people what they can and cannot eat.

[multicartual]

Originally Posted by zilley

as gay as this may sound, this really breaks my heart as a dog lover/owner.

Expressing your feelings isn't gay, it's important and brave to speak up


Fucking a man in the ass is gay

[StylinRed]

Originally Posted by multicartual

Expressing your feelings isn't gay, it's important and brave to speak up


Fucking a man in the ass is gay

you draw the line @ the ass eh

[Ulic Qel-Droma]

Originally Posted by StylinRed

you draw the line @ the ass eh

if two men are sexually engaged, they might not necessarily both be gay. but you can almost 100% be certain the one who's dick is getting rubbed the right way is the gay one.

unless you're in an american prison. apparently there it's not gay. lol.

[maksimizer]

I dont know about you guys, but i prefer eating pussy