The Yulin Dog Meat Festival, which happens every year on the summer solstice, is a particularly gruesome display of the dog meat trade. At the festival, thousands of dogs are beaten, killed, and eventually eaten by people who believe eating dog meat on this day will bring good luck. Participants claim the Yulin Dog Meat festival is a local “tradition,” but that’s a lie. The festival didn’t start until 2009, and was only created to boost profits for China’s ruthless dog meat traders.

Hope is on the horizon, however. As people become educated on the cruelty and health risks of dog meat, fewer dogs face slaughter. The number of dogs killed at the Yulin Dog Meat Festival has also dropped sharply. With tremendous global outcry against the festival, dog butchers are now forced to hide from public eyes. Local youth hold protests at Yulin City Hall demanding an end to the brutality, and activists line the streets, spreading word about the cruelty of the dog meat trade.

There is more good news: Although it was once illegal to keep dogs as pets in China, times have changed and many households now include dogs as part of the family. They are shunning dog meat and speaking out against it, and as a result, the number of dog slaughters is decreasing throughout China.

The U.S. government is also starting to pressure China to end dog meat. On May 25, 2016, Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) introduced a non-binding resolution into the U.S. House of Representatives condemning China’s Yulin Dog Meat Festival and calling on the Chinese government to end the dog meat trade. House Resolution 752 acknowledges the “extreme animal cruelty” of the dog meat industry, citing its unpopularity with the Chinese people, its threat to global public health, and the countless stolen pets that are slaughtered each year.

Though non-binding resolutions are not laws, they have been used to state official congressional positions on issues and can affect future legislation, including treaties, trade agreements, and travel policy.

The trend is heartening, but dogs in China still face agonizing deaths for the dog meat trade and LCA will keep the pressure on until the slaughter ends. Please help us continue the fight against dog meat. Make a gift to LCA today »

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Sign the petition above and send a letter in the mail to Ambassador Cui Tiankai at the Chinese Embassy urging Chinese officials to end the dog and cat meat trade. Use the petition text as a sample guide for your letter.

Dear Ambassador Cui Tiankai,

I respectfully urge the Guangxi Yulin government to put an end to the Yulin Dog Meat Festival. I have great respect for the Chinese people and Chinese civilization, but I am horrified to learn that the brutal event still exists in a modernized society. The Yulin Dog Meat Festival is internationally perceived as a disgrace to China.

I adamantly state my strong opposition to this gruesome practice. I also urge that your office work with China’s Department of Agriculture in passing an animal protection law that bans the dog and cat meat trade.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Mail your letter to the following address:

Ambassador Cui Tiankai
Chinese Embassy Chancery
3505 International Pl N.W
Washington, D.C. 20008
Email: chinaembpress_us@mfa.gov.cn (Note: emails are not always delivered; postal mail is more reliable)

2. Make a gift today to keep LCA undercover investigators in the field to put an end to China’s dog meat trade.

Please donate to help LCA keep fighting animal abuse!

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