(Scroll Down For Video) — The yearly dog meat festival in China marking the summer solstice was held despite international criticism and local activists rescuing dogs.
As many as 10,000 dogs, many of them stolen pets, are slaughtered for the event. Activists say the festival has no cultural value and only takes place to drum up business.
Pictures have emerged of the family pets and other waifs and strays, stuffed inside cramped metal cages as they are lined up to be sold at the cruel carnival.
In March, a nationwide protest called for the shutdown of the Yulin “Dog Meat Festival,” an annual event promoted by the city’s dog meat traders.
Between August and December, thousands of activists took part in highway rescues of dogs on trucks bound for northeast China’s dog meat markets. Of 23 attempts, 18 trucks carrying more than 8,000 dogs were successfully pulled over.
The organisation claims the local government could be violating China’s national policy by allowing the cruel festival to continue.
It is legal to eat dogs in China and the country has no law protecting the welfare of pets but its Ministry of Agriculture has strict rules which require every cat and dog to have an ‘inspection certificates’ before they are transported.
Because most of these animals are stolen pets or strays grabbed off the street, dog meat traders do not have the right paperwork or produce ‘fraudulent documents’ instead, HSI claims.
Some slaughterhouse owners admitted they did not have ‘quarantine certificates’ and local health inspectors never visit to check out the animals – many of whom look visibly sick.
CREDIT: Johnnes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images/RT
