Chinese city of Yulin's Dog Meat Festival - June 21

[robert99]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/10/w...al.html&eventName=Watching-article-click&_r=0
Two weeks before the annual dog meat festival in the southern Chinese city of Yulin, an international coalition of animal welfare advocates is stepping up pressure on the Chinese government to shut it down.

A petition with more than 11 million signatures was presented to the Chinese Embassy in London on Tuesday, according to Humane Society International, one of the organizations behind the campaign.

Representatives of the group, which is based in Washington, along with Chinese animal rights advocates, also delivered the petition on Friday to the Beijing office of the government of Yulin, where the Lychee and Dog Meat Festival has taken place on the summer solstice since 2010 amid mounting controversy.

 

[robert99]

Last Chance for Animals - www.LCAnimal.org

For the first time, the government of Yulin, China has pledged to take action to stop the barbaric Yulin Dog Meat Festival, where 10,000 dogs are ruthlessly slaughtered and eaten each year on the summer solstice. This is major progress, and follows massive global outcry including a long-running campaign and multiple groundbreaking investigations by LCA.

LCA's newest, penetrating investigation of Yulin dog slaughterhouses (released yesterday) reveals the extreme torture endured by the dogs, many of whom are stolen pets.

In the past, the Yulin government has denied the Yulin Dog Meat Festival even exists -- but investigations like this make it impossible to hide the truth.

Now, a Yulin government representative has written to Hong Kong legislator Michael Tien Puk-sun, a vocal opponent of dog meat, that "authorities would work towards putting an end to the event as soon as possible."

Of course, words are not action, and there is a long way to go. The government must close the slaughterhouses and block the truckloads of dogs entering the city; so far, the only known action is prohibiting public dog slaughter for food safety concerns.

LCA will keep the pressure on until the Yulin government makes good on their word and stops the Yulin Dog Meat Festival completely.
Sign the petition urging officials to end the brutal Yulin Dog Meat Festival see Stop the Yulin Dog Meat Festival!

 

[robert99]

Last Chance for Animals - www.LCAnimal.org
Today, June 20, 2016 -- just one day before the bloody Yulin Dog Meat Festival -- LCA representatives met with local Yulin officials to demand enforcement of health regulations which would prevent the slaughter of dogs at area slaughterhouses and were told that inspectors would not be conducting inspections.

LCA representatives have now filed a complaint with the state council to gain an official order requiring the onsite inspection of the slaughterhouses where LCA documented dogs being killed without the requisite health certificates.

This action follows LCA's undercover investigation exposing cruelty to dogs and sickeningly unsanitary conditions at Yulin area slaughterhouses. LCA will continue working tirelessly to urge officials to enforce the law and finally shut down the slaughterhouses, end the Yulin Dog Meat Festival and stop the entire dog and cat meat industry.

We have a long way to go, but there has been progress. Thanks to outcry from activists around the world, it has become increasingly difficult to hold the festival. This year, the Yulin government has ordered dog meat markets and restaurants to cover their signs, and has banned public slaughter of dogs. Still, the killing will continue as long as the slaughterhouses of Yulin remain open.

 

[Andy_T]

You're outraged about the Yulin Dog Meat "Festival"?

Good. You ought to be outraged.

Just keep one simple fact in mind: there is absolutely *no* difference between eating dogs and eating any other sentient nonhuman. None.

Therefore: don't characterize the Chinese as morally different from any other nonvegans. And if you're not vegan, then recognize the profound hypocrisy of your outrage about Yulin.

Be outraged about the victimization of the vulnerable, irrespective of where it happens or who does it. Act on that outrage in creative, nonviolent ways: be vegan and educate everyone you can that veganism is the *only* rational response to the recognition that animals have moral value and are not just things.

from: Source

And, an Asian perspective....

Yulin dog meat festival – the sliding scale of morality

 

[robert99]

"Gary L. Francione is Distinguished Professor of Law and Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Scholar of Law and Philosophy at Rutgers University School of Law-Newark.

He received his B.A. in philosophy from the University of Rochester, where he was awarded the Phi Beta Kappa O'Hearn Scholarship that allowed him to pursue graduate study in philosophy in Great Britain. He received his M.A. in philosophy and his J.D. from the University of Virginia. He was Articles Editor of the Virginia Law Review."

Smarty pants!

 

[robert99]

Yulin dog meat festival begins in China amid widespread criticism - BBC News
An annual dog meat festival has begun in southern China, amid widespread domestic and international opposition.

About 10,000 dogs and cats are expected to be killed and eaten during the controversial 10-day festival in Yulin.

Activists say the event is cruel, and this year a petition calling for it to be banned collected 11 million signatures.

The local government says the festival does not have official backing but is staged by private businesses.