This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.

The dog meat trade tragically exists across China, but the annual Lychee and Dog Meat Festival in Yulin epitomizes the suffering and brutality of this cruel industry. However, a recent change in the way dogs are classified in the country gives us a perfect opportunity to shut this festival of horror down for good! 

Although some claim consuming dog meat is a tradition, the Yulin dog meat festival was only recently created. This year, the days-long event is scheduled to take place June 21 through June 30, and thousands of dogs are expected to be mercilessly butchered and consumed.

Many of them have led lives of cruelty and deprivation, while others who end up here are companions who were stolen. Sadly, they all end up being heartlessly tortured, slaughtered and eaten.

While it’s staggering in its cruelty alone, this festival also poses serious risks to human health. The World Health Organization has linked the consumption of dog meat to outbreaks of numerous diseases in people, including cholera and trichinellosis, along with rabies, which is a problem Yulin struggles with. There’s also the risk of contracting E.Coli and salmonella, or consuming meat from dogs who were killed with poison.  

This event is exceptionally dangerous this year given the risk of perpetuating the spread of COVID-19.

Now, however, there’s more hope that the dog meat trade can be stopped since China has just taken a momentous step forward. 

China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has just announced that dogs are companions! They are no longer classified as “livestock” who can be commercially bred, raised and traded. 

Yulin must not be allowed to defy this change by continuing to torture and slaughter dogs!

What YOU Can Do

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.