China's Yulin festival...did anyone know this existed?
Nicola32
Posts: 5,153 Forum Member
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I know they eat cats and dogs in China but I didn't know they had an annual 'festival' where people gather to watch the slaughter of thousands of cats and dogs.>:(
As much as it upsets me I accept that dogs and cats are considered food in certain countries but why the HORRIFIC torture of these animals???>:(>:(>:(:cry:
There should be international pressure put on the Chinese government to stop this barbaric ritual!!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3134200/Heart-breaking-image-puppy-unaware-skinned-alive-cooked-China-s-annual-dog-meat-festival.html
WARNING...Graphic photos in link.
As much as it upsets me I accept that dogs and cats are considered food in certain countries but why the HORRIFIC torture of these animals???>:(>:(>:(:cry:
There should be international pressure put on the Chinese government to stop this barbaric ritual!!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3134200/Heart-breaking-image-puppy-unaware-skinned-alive-cooked-China-s-annual-dog-meat-festival.html
WARNING...Graphic photos in link.
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It was a way to get people to visit an area they'd otherwise skip because of the odd cultural practices.
I only found out about this a couple of days ago when a link to an online petition appeared on my facebook page.
I must admit, I didn't look at the photos in the article I posted, I just couldn't because I know I would be haunted by them.
I have read about what goes on and that's enough!>:( Those poor animals.
Protest against the Yulin dog meat festival, but don't forget the 1.9m animals who are brutally slaughtered in the UK every month
The western distinction between dogs and farm animals is completely arbitrary
Just last month 1.9m animals were slaughtered in a barbaric practice that has existed for hundreds of years.
The animals were beaten, electrocuted or even gassed to near-unconsciousness. Even though this is meant to knock them out, they are often still awake for what comes next – the throat slitting. They are strung up by their feet, and their throat cut from ear to ear, draining out all their blood. Sometimes the animals are still crying and kicking when they do this. Other types of animals are packed into huge crates, wheeled into a chamber and gassed to death.
But this isn’t happening in some distant country – this is all taking place in the British meat industry.
There has been a huge outcry over the Yulin dog and lychee festival in Guangxi, a south-western province of China, and with good reason. It is thought about 10,000 dogs (and cats) will be killed during the festival for their meat, which is a delicacy there.
It is horrific – photos have been circulating online of dogs crammed into crates and cages on their way to Yulin. But if you have ever seen pigs or sheep being transported, you’d know they’re also squashed up against each other in tightly packed crates, and driven uncomfortable distances to be gassed and slaughtered. It's a similarly heartbreaking sight.
Most meat and dairy-eating critics of the Yulin festival have said it’s not the fact that animals are being killed, but the “barbaric” way it’s done. So by that logic it would be acceptable if: the puppies were suffocated and ground up alive as soon as they are born, their throats were slit and their testicles cut off without anaesthetic, or the female dogs were forcibly impregnated so that the puppies could be slaughtered and the dogs could be hooked up to a contraption to extract the milk – when they stop producing milk they’re murdered. Because these are all accepted, “humane” practices from the British meat and dairy industries.
There’s actually no difference between Yulin and our meat industry, except quantity. 10,000 dogs will be slaughtered for the festival; almost 2m animals were slaughtered for meat in Britain last month, and will continue to be killed at the same rate.
It's good to hear that brave activists in China have acted against the festival. Some of them have driven long distances to Yulin to buy dogs in person and save them from slaughter. Yang Xiaoyun, for example, travelled all the way from Tianjin in northern China and spent more than £700 to rescue 100 dogs. She’s planning to set up a home to look after the dogs and has been met with mainstream praise in the west. But where is the praise for western activists such as Gary Yourofsky? He's done the same thing and released imprisoned animals from farms and laboratories – but activists like him have never been met with praise. They’re branded eco-terrorists.
The western distinction of “dog = friend, farm animal = food” is a completely arbitrary and false one. In Guangxi, dog = food. So the sudden outrage at a Chinese dog meat festival begs the question – why are meat eaters so comfortable criticising cruelty in a country 8,000 miles away, while actively supporting equally cruel and far larger-scale animal torture closer to home? Even Ricky Gervais – self-titled “animal avenger” and the main campaigner against Yulin – is, to my knowledge, a meat-eater (although he has said that he doesn't eat red meat, "to rule out any cruelty").
Anyone who genuinely cares about non-human animals won’t just fight against the injustices committed in faraway places. The only question you have to ask yourself is: do I care about animals? If you do, then it doesn't matter if its fluffy or cute, or if it's possible to own one as a pet. Slaughter is slaughter, and suffering is suffering.
So by all means sign the anti-Yulin petition, but don't pretend that the worst animal cruelty in the world is happening "over there". It's here as well, and won't stop until we realise that it's as much our problem as China's.
Obviously any animal should be treated well but I wonder how these conditions compare to the factories that most chickens are kept in, whether for their meat or eggs.
I think that woman must be a veggie or something because she totally ignores that the meat industry is regulated here and the examples she's given doesn't reflect all of it, the transport of animals has strict rules too.
Given what happens at the festival in China I doubt very much that their meat industry is regulated yet no mention of that, in fact no mention that they eat other animals at all.
'There’s actually no difference between Yulin and our meat industry, except quantity'.
Yeah right you dumb ass.
It is a disgusting practice.
The internet is opening a lot of doors now with social media, which is a great thing, I certainly am learning a lot more about the world!
Unfortunately complaining to the chinese government isn't the same as complaining to ofcom
Is that old chestnut still doing the rounds?
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/15/chinese-restaurant-dog-meat-myth
That is not to say I condone this festival. I just don't see the difference between the way animals are treated on farms here for meat, and nor do I see any difference between eating a cow and eating a dog. The amount of people opposed to this because dogs are kept as pets is baffling! I know people with pet ducks and chickens in this country, that doesn't stop them being bred for meat by others.
I'd be interested in the meat industry in China as a whole to be honest - is this treatment of animals being bred for meat "normal" for all animals or is it exclusive to dogs and cats? And if it isn't exclusive to them, then where's the outrage over the pigs and cows? Or are they truly considered lesser than other animals to those claiming the moral high ground over the Chinese who participate in this practice? The whole thing smacks of hypocrisy and intolerance of other cultural practices to me. I know this festival is a recent development, I'm referring to dog farming in general as a cultural thing rather than this festival specifically. With regards to the festival, of course I think it should be stopped but I wouldn't prioritise it over stopping cruelty to animals in the UK.
I don't wish to cause offence to anyone on here, and to be honest I have only skimmed the replies so far to avoid aiming my comments at anyone specifically (will read them now that I have that out of the way!). I have been reading people's opinions on this for the last few days across the internet which is what I am referring to mostly. It really bothers me that there are such huge double standards regarding boiling dogs alive and boiling lobsters alive, the way lobsters are killed has really upset me ever since I found out that is what happens ha.
I would be equally upset at a cow being minced alive to produce my beef burger.