Residents have begun killing and eating dogs early in celebration of the summer solstice in a bid to avoid protests by animal rights campaigners.
Some residents of the southern Chinese city of Yulin started gathering last weekend and eating dog meat and lychees to celebrate the longest day of the year, ahead of Saturday's actual solstice, state media reported.
The locals wanted to avoid protests which have in recent years seen the festival, slaughterhouses and markets selling dogs targeted as part of a social media campaign and ongoing online petition against the practice.
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Controversial: The dog meat festival in Yulin, China, often attracts protests from animal rights activists
Protests: The Human Society International released this image of a dog waiting to be sold for meat in a market in Yulin in 2013
The public uproar reflects the increasing affluence of ordinary Chinese, who keep pets, travel overseas and are changing attitudes toward traditions they may not have questioned before.
Photos on state media showed groups of Yulin city residents tucking into plates of meat and vegetables around dining tables strewn with lychees. Other photos, which circulated widely on Chinese microblogs, were of skinned, cooked dogs hanging from hooks at street stalls or piled on tables.
Under the Yulin tradition, eating dog and lychee and drinking liquor on the solstice is supposed to make people stay healthy during winter. It is unclear if the supposed health benefits diminish if the feast occurs before the actual solstice.
Celebration: The dogs are killed and sold as part of the summer solstice, which takes place this Saturday
Grisly end: There are reports that local Chinese residents began their celebrations early to avoid protests
Unpopular: The Yulin government has sought to distance itself from the feasting, saying it is not officially endorsed
Animal rights activists say the event is a public health risk because the dogs undergo no quarantine to ensure they are free of disease, and that they are strays grabbed off streets around the country, as well as allegedly stolen from pet owners. The dogs are often poisoned with toxic chemicals that could be harmful to humans, they say.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2661107/China-dog-eaters-dodge-activists-early-feast.html#ixzz35G0TBw3V
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