The controversial dog meat festival, invented in 2010 by dog meat traders, has begun in the city of Yulin.
In May we reported dog meat was banned at Yulin festival in China. We were wrong.
Related: In Yulin a Dog Festival isn’t exactly what you might think [Graphic Images] , 1300 dogs rescued by Chinese volunteers
According to BBC, US campaigners who claimed vendors had been told by local authorities not to sell dog meat, confirmed there was no ban.
On Wednesday, reports from Yulin Lychee and Dog Meat (21 – 30 June) festival said dead dogs could be seen hanging from meat hooks at stalls in Dongkou market, the biggest in the city.
There were also reports of a heavy police presence on the streets.
One activist in the city told the BBC she was prevented by police from entering the Dashichang market where she believed live dogs were on sale.
In previous years there have been scuffles between stall owners and activists trying to rescue the dogs slated for slaughter.
The festival sparked controversy both in China and abroad.
The tradition of dog meat consumption began over 400 years ago in China.
Although there is no medical or physiological evidence to support it, many Chinese practitioners of folk medicine believe that dog meat would help ward off the heat felt through the summer months.
The festival is celebrated annually in Yulin, Guangxi, China, during the summer solstice in June, by eating dog meat and lychees.
About 10,000 to 15,000 dogs are consumed during the 10 days of the festival.
Throughout the 10 days of festivities, dogs are paraded in wooden crates and metal cages and are taken to be skinned and cooked for consumption by festival visitors and local residents.
Reactions to the Festival A retired school teacher, Yang Xiaoyun, paid ¥150,000 to rescue 360 dogs and tens of cats from the festival in 2014, and ¥7,000 to rescue 100 dogs in 2015.
In 2016, 1,000 dogs were rescued from the festival; the previous week 34 animals were rescued from a slaughter facility in Yulin by Humane Society International.
Millions of Chinese voted in support of a legislative proposal by Zhen Xiaohe, a deputy to the National People’s Congress of China, to ban the dog meat trade.
An editorial published by Global Times strongly criticized what the writer believed to be the Western obsession over the treatment of dogs, and cited bullfighting as an example of animal cruelty to which the West has turned a blind eye.
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