30 million dogs are killed each year across Asia for their meat – 10 million for China’s meat trade alone.
However, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced their official guidance in the hope that it will encourage people to do more to protect dogs and cats from ‘meat trade thieves and slaughterhouses’. Many of the animals transported for the trade, including Yulin’s dog meat festival, are pets and companions stolen from gardens, properties and streets.
A survey conducted across China in 2016 showed that almost 70% of citizens had never tried dog meat, supporting the Ministry’s reflection that the trade ‘does not reflect the mood or eating habits of the majority of the Chinese people’.
Whilst this is a huge step in the right direction, you can support the Humane Society International’s mission to end the dog meat trade globally here.
