Oh no. Oh no, no, no.
A few days ago, an 11 million signature-strong petition was delivered to the Chinese government, calling for them to ban Yulin’s notorious dog meat festival. In case you’ve been tuned out to that particular fest, the annual event sees thousands upon thousands of pups slaughtered and eaten. Yeah.
The push against it, which features the co-signs of Ricky Gervais and Ian Somerhalder, claims it’s a straight-up brutal celebration that doesn’t really have a place in the modern world. Here’s some footage captured last year, but fair warning: it’s pretty confronting.
Well, in response to the growing influx of opposition, vendors on the scene claim hub-bub has actually boosted interest in the June 21 event. Read: actual dog-meat butchers are thanking the massive backlash for getting hungry punters interested in the whole deal.
According to AFP, the owner of the honest-to-God ‘Yulin Number One Crackling Dog Meat Shop‘ said “my store’s dog-meat sales are much higher than before, last year was up more than 50 percent.”
“Because of the protests, more people know that Yulin has a dog meat festival, so everyone comes and tries it.”“As we get closer to the dog meat festival, all Yulin’s hotels are completely full.”
That’s one of many similar claims among vendors. Hell, even the owners of animal shelters in the region are rallying against outside interference. One claims the international outrage amounts to little more than unintentional “sabotage” that only encourages locals to stand up for the “tradition” – which was only started in a few years back.
Essentially, we might just be looking at the largest and most uncomfortable example of the Streisand Effect ever seen.
As for the practice itself? Well, a truck full of 400 slaughterhouse-bound animals – some still wearing pet collars – was intercepted last month by animal rights activists. Humane Society International estimates that elsewhere in the city, about 300 dogs are killed for food each day.
The Yulin government has pledged to ban the slaughter of the dogs in public, but because China’s animal rights laws only cover endangered animals, they can’t outright stop the practice behind closed doors.
FWIW, HSI claim the interest unintentionally spurred by the #StopYulin campaign has been overblown, and they’re working to frame dogs as pets, and pets only – an increasingly attractive prospect in a nation with a rapidly-growing middle class, who now have the means to keep puppers as furry friends.
It looks like the fest is still going ahead this year, though. If you have a doggo of your own, now might be a decent time to give it a cuddle.
