While elsewhere in Asia the cat café has become the newest fad, the Southern Chinese city of Yulin is taking an entirely different approach to pets in their restaurants.
Residents of Yulin have faced public uproar as they celebrate their annual summer-solstice festival, the controversial menu of which consists of lychees and dog meat. The latter is believed to stimulate internal heat in preparation for the coming winter.
According to the China Daily, Yulin citizens dig in and devour over 10,000 dogs in order bring themselves good luck and health.
Over 10,000 dogs are slaughtered in Yulin during the festival
Although the sale and consumption of dog-meat is not illegal, it has become an extremely inflammatory issue in recent years as more and more middle-class Chinese are choosing to keep dogs as pets.
As a result the ‘Lychee and Dog Meat Eating Festival’ has been greeted with howling disapproval as activists uphold the belief that the animals are mates not mutts, friends not food. (Read more about Chinese action against eating dog meat here.)
Animal activists rally against the consumption of dog meat
Rather than tackling these allegations of animal cruelty, the Yulin Government has attempted to kill the rumors of a widely celebrated dog-eating festival by denying all knowledge of its existence entirely.
“The so-called summer solstice lychee dog meat festival does not exist,” an announcement reads. “Neither Yulin government nor social organizations have ever held such activities.”
According to the Xinhua news agency, the Yulin citizenry has responded to the widespread condemnation of their tradition by slyly kicking-off their celebrations a week early in order to mitigate controversy. The position of the locals is clear:
"We eat chicken, pork and beef, why not dog meat? It is not against the law."
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