Will Lychee And Dog Meat Festival Be Banned? History, Purpose, & COVID-19 Situation

Lychee and Dog Meat Festival

Animals are our friends. But for some, they are nothing but the bred to be tortured and to be eaten by the end.

Each year in China, thousands and thousands of dogs and cats are caught and stolen. They put these animals inside the small cage, waiting to be brutally slaughtered and consumed in the name of the festival. This festival is the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, also known as The Lychee and Dog Meat Festival.

First of all, let us focus on when did this festival got originated in China?

History Of Lychee And Dog Meat Festival

The first festival regarding the Yulin celebration occurred in 2009 to stamp the mid-year solstice. The festival began to sanction every year in Yulin, Guangxi of China, throughout the late spring solstice in June, by eating canine meat and lychees.

From the get-go, it was accounted that around 10,000 canines had been devoured for every yearly event happening in China. Throughout the ten days of merriments, canines are strutted in wooden boxes with metal confines.

Lychee and Dog Meat Festival Canines Strutted in Wooden Box
Canines are strutted in wooden boxes with metal confines for the Yulin Festival (Source: BBC)

Afterward, the canines are assembled and exerted by poles using excessive utilization of power. After the brutal arrangements, the dogs are then offered to the most elevated bidder and are taken to be butchered and cooked for utilization.

The Yulin “Lychee and Dog Meat” festival is known to be a yearly multi-day occasion where more than 10,000 canines are eaten alongside sub-dishes such as Feline meat, new lychees, and alcohol.

The festival happens every year in Yulin, a city in China’s Guangxi territory, which runs from the 21st to the 30th of June during the most sweltering weeks of the year.

Purpose Of Lychee And Dog Meat Festival

The purpose of the Yulin festival is based upon ancient beliefs.

As indicated by fables, the people believed eating canine meat throughout the summer months would bring good karma and great well-being. Some also assumed that canine meat could be used to avoid infections and elevate men’s sexual presentation.

It was also an endeavor to boost the local economy for traders to earn a profitable income. And this festival is often linked to the cases of animal thievery that occurs in China.

The cases of Dogs and Cats Theft in China are based upon thievery. These animals are regularly snatched from other people’s households or caught on the road. After they have caught the animals, they lock the stolen goods into a wooden box where they aren’t quarantined to ensure they’re safe. Moreover, these animals are frequently harmed by synthetic compounds.

As indicated by an investigation done by the Animals Asia Foundation, most canines that were devoured are homeless canines or taken pets. Around 70% of towns concentrated in China have lost their precious dogs.

Consistently, it has been estimated that vast numbers of the canines and cats that are eaten gave off an impression of being stolen from various households from neighboring towns, according to their collars. There have been many cases of pets gone missing.

The widespread conviction of beliefs that grew many suspicions regarding canines expended at the festival was reared from their canine ranches in China was a lie, and it was asserted that there was no enormous scope ‘meat canine’ breeding facility.

There are even numerous petitions to stop and ban this festival.

Petitions To Ban And Stop Lychee And Dog Meat Festival

The Food Safety Law’s official statement states that selling canine meat as a product of food was against the curriculum and unsafe since these animals may possess various diseases if not appropriately vaccinated.

Whereas at another point, the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law also stated that these canines should be vaccinated and is forbidden to even sell or transport them as goods.

The Festival has caused global outrage, with millions worldwide standing up in the struggle to stop or ban this gruesome carnival.

Practically, in 2019, 1.5 million individuals marked a request set up via Care 2 and Humane Society International campaign to stop the 10-day celebration regarding the Yulin festival.

Check Out: Organic Farming: Benefits, Requirements, & Practices

Will Yulin Dog Meat Festival Be Banned?

Yulin dog meat Festival will be hard to prevent from being banned. First of all, it is not considered an authorized festival but lies in an ancient tradition’s beliefs.

On the other hand, it can reduce savagery or kidnapping by protecting these animals with extreme care.

People must stay aware of their surroundings and be on the lookout for these poachers who steal or kidnap these animals from their homes.

COVID-19 Situation Regarding Yulin Dog Meat Festival

Restricting dog meat in Yulin Festival is always a challenging part. Due to COVID-19, many hoped that in 2020, this festival might get canceled.

In June 2020, China gave an impermanent restriction on all exchange and utilization of wild creatures after a “wet market” in Wuhan’s focal city turned into the associated focal point of the COVID-19 flare-up.

Numerous researchers believed that the dangerous infection hopped from bats into people was through unidentified third animal categories.

Even with the risk of the COVID- 19 pandemic, the procedures for the Yulin festival were not kept on hold. They sold these animals without wearing face covers. Local people assembled close by at open-air seating territories, with no social separating, to eat the meat cooked in a stew.

Despite several animal rights protests and the COVID-19 pandemics, it did not prevent those dogs spare from being butchered during the 2020 Yulin festival. It commenced from 21 June to 30 June 2020.

Updated on Last Updated: February 19, 2024
Posted by
Adam Wisener

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