Charity workers save 60 dogs and cats from the Yulin Meat Festival

Some 60 dogs and cats have been saved from certain death at the hands of butchers at the Yulin Dog Meat festival – but this is ‘just a drop in the ocean’, animal activists warn.

During the annual festival, which began around 2010, dogs and cats – which are often stolen pets – are brutally tortured and killed in the streets before being made into food for food stalls and restaurants.

During the 10-day event, now underway, up to 10,000 dogs and 5,000 cats are believed to be killed and eaten.

However, some animals will now avoid this fate, having been rescued by activists from a London-based charity NoToDogMeat, who is raising money to continue his rescue efforts.

They negotiated the lives of eight dogs in a slaughterhouse described as “unsanitary,” learning that the dogs had been fed dead puppy meat.

Authorities have now been made aware of the facility in the city of Nanning, which kills about 100 dogs a day.

Animal advocates, however, say police and the municipality are doing little to stop the slaughter.

There is a thriving dog meat trade in Nanning, with the meat sold by shops and restaurants to tourists and locals as a health tonic.

Qin Xi Zhao, who leads the operation and runs the NoToDogMeat shelter in Heibei, said, “This has been a devastating time for campaigners, I have no words for it.

‘In total we have rescued about 60 animals, dogs, cats and puppies, but that is only a drop in the ocean.

“We have seen killing methods at Yulin this year that we haven’t seen in 10 years and have even been warned by the authorities about our presence at the festival, as if we were spoiling the fun.

“We feel we are losing the battle, but will not stop trying to end this cruelty.”

The rescued animals (including this dog) ‘will need urgent veterinary and behavioral care while they recover from trauma,’ says the charity

In addition to rescuing dogs, NoToDogMeat has also rescued 26 cats.

According to the organization, the cats would be “boiled alive with live snakes to make a gruesome Tiger Dragon Fight soup.”

Shelters, including NoToDogMeat’s shelters in Hebei and Beijing, will take in all rescues in need of urgent veterinary and behavioral care while recovering from trauma.

London lawyer Julia de Cadenet founded NoToDogMeat in 2009, after witnessing the horrors of the cruel trade herself.

She said: “This year, with the pandemic restrictions lifted, it’s as if the lust for brutality and spectacle is greater than ever.

A number of cats (including this kitten) were also rescued. The charity says some cats would be boiled alive, along with live snakes, as part of a ‘Tiger Dragon Fight soup’

“It is deeply disturbing that the general public seems undeterred by what is happening around them and that the authorities have done nothing to enforce their own rules on this trade.”

According to the charity, dogs will not be classified as food in China following a decision by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2021.

This should have banned the festival, but “local authorities are hesitant to enforce the ban because of the money the area brings in.”

Julia continued, “This has nothing to do with culture or tradition, everyone knows that being cruel to animals is wrong, and this festival that started in 2009 must end.

“Shame on the authorities and the people of Yulin who are watching and allowing this to happen.”