THEL Yulin Festival it started again. Also this year the stalls have reopened and the tables are once again filled with “merchandise”: the bodies of dogs killed after being stolen by the thousands in the countryside and in the cities and destined to be cooked during the days of the summer solstice, the hottest of the season. They are shown by the photos arriving from the market of the Chinese town, known in the world only for this macabre annual ritual inaugurated in 2010 by local traders to revive an increasingly declining tradition, especially among young people. Exposed still alive in the rusted cages in which they have been transported, piled up, undernourished and thirsty, they await their turn. And the looks, which come from the eyes behind the bars of the cages, tell all their stories of suffering.
Save in 386, intercepted on a truck that took them to the slaughterhouse of Yulin
For 386 of them, the fate was different. The truck headed for the slaughterhouse in Yulin was intercepted on the highway about 800 kilometers from the city by a group of Chinese animal rights activists who, every year more and more numerous, have materially taken to the streets to stop the massacre that discredits an entire world in the eyes of the world. Village. The 386 dogs that were crammed into it were taken over by the police who intervened at the request of the activists and transferred to a police facility, prepared for quarantine where they will receive the necessary veterinary care. \
Safe thanks to Humane Society International
After 21 days, if the traffickers refuse to pay the hefty fine (which they rarely do because it exceeds the profit they would get from selling the dogs), the animals will be handed over to activists. A refuge supported by Humane Society International and managed by its partner Vshine he made himself available to take care of them. “If all the law enforcement agencies in China followed a zero tolerance approach towards these thieves and dog traffickers, it would be the end of the dog trade here – he comments. Lin Xiong, one of the activists present on the spot. – The massacre linked to the consumption of dog meat casts shame on our country and therefore we will continue to fight until we see the end of this suffering ».
30 million dogs killed and eaten every year
Yet despite the dog meat is prohibited in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailandin Philippinesas well as in the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai, in the province of Siem Reap in Cambodia and in 17 cities and regencies of Indonesia, throughout Asia 30 million dogs are still killed every year for their meat. A frightening figure that contrasts with the results of polls that indicate the custom in free fall. All this despite the fact that even the high institutional spheres are starting to show greater sensitivity on the subject, if only for the fall in image of China in the world: in 2020 the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs officially declared that dogs are considered pets and not “livestock” intended for consumption. In the same year, two major cities in China – Shenzhen and Zhuhai – banned the consumption of dog and cat meat, a decision supported according to polls by nearly 75% of Chinese citizens.
South Korea where breeding is legal
Even the only country in the world where dog farms for food consumption are still legal, the South Korea (there is no definite news from North Korea) shows growing support for the ban on the consumption of dog meat. In the survey, conducted in 2020 by Nielsen and commissioned by Humane Society International / Korea 84% of respondents say they do not eat or do not want to eat the dog and almost 60% support a legislative ban on the trade. Recently it has been reported that Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee, who are in favor of ending this practice, are discussing terms to end the trade.
Even in Italy it is discussed
Italy is not indifferent. Last year, on the occasion of the Festival, the activist Davide Acito and his Action Project Animal, organized a flash mob in front of the Senate of the Republic in Rome, to raise public awareness. Acito has been on the front line for years and was the first Italian to witness live what was happening in Yulin for several years, organizing activities to combat the trade in dogs and also managing to open a hospital-shelter for those who were brought rescued. Politics did not back down this year and a panel discussion was organized on 21 June from Animal Welfare Department of the League, coordinated by the Honorable Filippo Maturi who had already presented a parliamentary question to the Foreign Ministry to ask, among other things, for a strong stance against the Yulin festival. “Yulin represents such a low point for humanity that in 2022 it is absolutely not acceptable – he stressed Mature during the round table organized on the initiative of Senator Raffaella Marin in the Caduti di Nassirya room in the Senate. – An international commitment is needed in order to persuade China to take decisive measures in order to extinguish these anachronistic and inhuman practices ».
The round table in the Senate
With Maturi also Davide Acito, president of Apa, Carla Rocchipresident of Enpa, Gianluca Felicettipresident of Lav, Alessandro Ricciutipresident of Animal Law Italia, e Alice Trombetta, executive director of Animal Equality Italia. «Tonight a group of activists from Action Project Animal acted undercover in the markets of Yulin – Acito had told a couple of days ago from his Instagram page. “There is a lot of excitement in these places where the lives of tens of thousands of innocents are bargained for within hours of the start of the Infernal Festival, the shame of the whole world that stands by and tolerates. We have been there since 2016 and every year we are at the forefront to save as much as possible. In a globalized world – and the Covid pandemic has shown us this – it is no longer possible to tolerate that such violence, such contempt for the lives of tens of thousands of cats and dogs go unnoticed by governments around the world. It’s an ethical question, it’s a global public health question, it’s a question that affects everyone, each of us “.
Source: Vanity Fair
