Puppy farms supplying dog meat found ahead of China’s controversial Yulin festival

Well-hidden puppy farms have been found in rural China ahead of the controversial Yulin Dog Meat Festival that kicks off on June 21.

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, up to 10,000 dogs and 5,000 cats are thought to be killed and eaten.

Some of these animals will be from the farms in Guangxi province en route to Yulin, which were found by navvies from London-based charity NoToDogMeat, which runs two shelters for rescued dogs in China.

The charity says these illegal farms are where traders want to eat dogs all year round.

According to the charity, the animals on these farms are kept in cramped cages, with little or no access to food and water

Qin Xi Zhao, who runs the NoToDogMeat shelter in Hebei and is working to gather information for the charity’s report to the United Nations on the matter, said: “In 2021, we have uncovered so many atrocities that contradicted what the “party” line is when they say there are no dog farms in China.

“Of course they should say that, because otherwise they would be breaking their own agricultural code, which affirms that dogs and cats should not be considered livestock.

“For too long, Beijing, backed by the West, has spoken of Yulin as some backward city in a forgotten province with a cultural festival once a year where dogs are feasted and Lychee wine drunk to celebrate the summer solstice, but that’s just not the case .

“Guangxi Province is killing the innocent.”

Charity workers have been in Yulin for a week, roaming the well-known markets of Qiaonon, Chengnan and Dongkou, observing small vans arriving with dead dogs and watching male and female traders cut them up, smoking and laughing.

London lawyer Julia de Cadenet founded NoToDogMeat in 2009 after witnessing the slaughter herself.

She said: “The dog meat trade is still thriving in Guangxi province and is unlikely to stop anytime soon.

“Traders even complain that their livelihoods are being disrupted by animal rights groups, but selling dogs for as much as RMB 1,800 each is exactly what they are doing with all the black market money they get.

Qin Xi Zhao (pictured, left, in the black T-shirt) worked hard to save as many dogs as possible ahead of the festival

“Mr. Zhao, who has devoted his life to caring for survivors of the dog and cat meat trade, feels depressed by everything he has seen, but he relentlessly tracks down where the live dogs are and collects information about where the trucks are. will come from. next week.’

She added: “He knew that dog traffickers do not trade only from Henan, Xi’an or Hebei. He suspects he has again succeeded in uncovering a dog farm.’

The farm discovered by Mr. Zhao specializes in puppies as young as three months old.

According to NoToDogMeat, the workers wore their T-shirts as a “silent act of defiance against the brutality” of the dog meat trade.

If they survive, they are shipped to markets where they are publicly slaughtered.

NoToDogMeat, who raises money to support his rescue missionssays this is illegal and violates a government statement that “there is no public slaughter in Yulin.”

In addition, the charity says it has already found evidence of a live slaughter being staged before the start of the festival.

The puppy dealer demanded 300 RMB per small puppy and said that if Mr. Zhao bought a big bag, he would take it to the big dog farm.

The charity message says all puppies are riddled with worms and infections.

Pictures of the farms show the appalling conditions (photo: NoToDogMeat charity worker Qin Xi Zhao, who works to rescue dogs from the meat trade)

Julia said, “Despite our team being Chinese, the locals are suspicious and unfriendly, but our brave activists, tears mixed with the sweat of the heat, continue to take pictures and wear their NoToDogMeat shirts in a silent act of defiance against this brutality.

“The weather is sweltering and it feels like the sky might collapse and fires will sweep through the bushes.

“We left with our purchase knowing we can’t take them all and are reaching out to local groups for help to provide sanctuary.

In a week, disaster tourists will land to take shocking horror photos of the event, and major organizations will ‘claim’ rescues and pay lip service to change.

‘But as long as the government does not introduce its own ‘rules’, nothing will change.’