“Sorry, no Dog Meat Here” – Yulin Festival and Carrefour Take Action

China’s notorious dog meat trade has been under fire for decades. The dog is seen as a traditional farm animal by a lot of Chinese – but the younger generation is starting to make a difference.

Carrefour, a French-owned food chain in China, has promised to ban dog meat from its shelves since 2017. And the Yulin Festival organizers banned live dogs to be slaughtered at their event in the same year. 

Here’s how your signatures helped to make a difference so far. And what you can do to keep making a difference.

The 2017 Controversy

The world was up in arms in 2017. The French-owned supermarket chain, Carrefour, had promised to take dog meat off its shelves since 2012. But in 2016 a routine inspection found dog meat on the shelves at a Carrefour supermarket. By 2017 nothing had changed – so animal activists to the web.

In 2017 thousands of people signed the petition that caused Carrefour to promise to ban dog meat off their shelves. And it was banned oof the shelves of two stores. But that’s just two stores out of 200. 

There was so much outrage about the dog meat industry that year that the popular Yulin Festival’s organizers decided to ban live dogs from their market. That’s right. Dog meat vendors took live dogs to market to be picked out, slaughtered, and prepared right there. But organizers felt empathy for the plights of “the younger generation” and banned this practice.

Unfortunately, since then…

[Dogs are still on display at Yulin Festival – June 2020]

Things haven’t really changed. Carrefour is back to selling dog meat. And even though petitions are still doing the rounds – more practical measures need to be taken too. Why? Because most of the dogs that are killed for meat are actually stolen pets or strays.

That’s right, puppy mills are very rare in China. But what there’s a lot of is missing pets and unnoticed strays. That means there’s an illegal dog trade going on – to top everything off.

Activists have been protesting dog meat for decades. The younger generation in China has taken to the idea of owning dogs as pets, and now dogs aren’t farmed anymore, they’re just stolen – or unwanted puppies become strays…

It’s heartbreaking, but that is the reality of the dog meat market in China at the moment.

To Educate or Investigate

While it’s still legal to sell dog meat in China, stealing the dogs is definitely against the law. Unfortunately, the police don’t really seem to be cracking down on the thieves. Thousands of pets still go missing without a trace every year. 

Investigating these underground dog meat markets might not be the best use of resources though. Of course, the criminals need to be caught – but educating the people to stop the trade entirely might be an easier way to go.

Things like neutering and sterilization programs, pet ownership education, and general public awareness will impact more people. And the more awareness there is on good ownership and sterilization – the fewer strays there will be. People who own dogs, or know people that own dogs, are also less likely to keep eating dog meat. 

Some of the more traditional dog eaters might never change their mind – but the 2017 outrage did show us that the younger generation in China is definitely against the idea – so there might be hope to ban dog meat for good, but only after another few years.

Here’s a video from 2015 that explains exactly what activists are up against:

But there’s some good news, 68 dogs were saved off a truck heading to Yulin this year. The fight to save the dogs is still going strong, with more and more local activists starting to take part in the “don’t eat companion animals” campaign.

[Protestors speaking up for those that can’t speak for themselves]

In the meantime

You can still do your part by signing petitions. A few simple clicks can make a gigantic difference. But it’s going to take persistence. We’re all going to have to keep standing together to end this fight.

It won’t happen overnight, but 2017 taught us one valuable lesson – When we stand together it does make a difference. In this case, it’s just going to take more time. But if we let the hype die down completely, nothing is going to change. 

You might not be able to go out in China but you can help educate communities in your area. If you love dogs, why not go out and volunteer at your local shelter a few weekends a month. Every little bit counts. The Netherlands is the only country in the world that has no strays. How did they reach that point? With the help of education and volunteer programs. So, get out there and do your part to make the world a better place for all the puppies!