208.941 NEEDED
This is the busiest time of the year of
Chinese dog meat traders: thousands of dogs are rounded off the streets from
all over the country and shipped to the southern city of Yulin, where the
infamous dog eating festival will start, according to plan, on June 21st,
to mark the Summer Solstice – a very special day in the Chinese calendar.
Just recently, the Humane Society
International announced that local authorities have imposed a ban on the dog
meat consumption, but the news has sadly proven to be false. According to the
alleged ban, dog meat traders would have
received over $10, 000 in fines for selling dog meat and all their supplies
would have been seized. But authorities have announced there are no plans to
keep the festival out of Yulin and traders and vendors cannot wait for the
event to commence.
Estimates indicate that over 10, 000 dogs
will be skinned or boiled alive and cooked in just a matter of days, all in the
name of culinary tradition. The dogs involved are either strays or stolen pets - grieving owners will never get to see their beloved pets alive. Their plight is so hard to describe in words:
crammed in tiny crates, they face a long, harrowing journey to Yulin. Many dogs
do not survive the trip itself. For those that are still alive, the nightmare
is just starting to unfold: locals believe that the more the dogs suffer, the
better the meat tastes (because the rush of adrenaline tends to soften the
meat). Placed in cages on the side of the road, customers have the possibility
of chosing their meal themselves (a move that also ensures the freshness of the
meat)
Activists have announced they will be on the
ground, patroling the streets in an attempt to rescue as many dogs as possible.
However, without a controlled intervention from the authorities, rescuing all
dogs will prove to be impossible.
Celebrities such as comedian Ricky Gervais
and actor Matt Damon have joined the campaign to oppose this inhumane event.
Please take action now and voice your
support for a ban on this year’s dog meat festival in Yulin, China. Signing and
sharing this petition is crucial, we must make one final push to save thousands
of innocent dogs – they don’t deserve to die!
Spread the word and Say No To Yulin 2017!