China has an annual ten-day festival called the Lychee and Dog Meat Festival which is an event geared towards gathering people to eat exactly that, and I do not support it.

There is a difference between domesticated and wild animals, and I believe it is unethical to eat man’s best friend. Not only am I against the consumption of cats and dogs, but I’m even more opposed to how China gets and treats the animals they catch.

It’s estimated by the Humane Society International that around 10-20 million dogs are slaughtered each year in China.  And a lot of the pets that they capture can often be seen with collars still on them, which means they are stolen pets from people’s backyards, the community, and dog farms.

Once the animals are captured, they can either be squeezed into cages on the back of trucks, dragged by the neck with a noose while hanging off the side of a motorcycle, or even out the door of a moving car.

Often times, they do not care how many dogs get squeezed into a cage because they will take as many as they can possibly get– not caring if the animals are starved, strangled, suffer from heatstroke, or even suffocate to death.

And that’s not the last of it. If the animal survives transportation and gets to the market, people might also throw them into bags and beat them.  After that, the animals are burned to death in the back of their storefront tent at the market and then served to the public.

This entire practice is done brutally and without a care because it is often thought that when the animal is tortured, the meat will taste better. But no matter if the dog is beaten or not, it can still have rabies, parasites, and toxic chemicals in it from when it was baited for capture.

I understand that other countries have different standards and certain religious beliefs with sacred animals, but I think this event is plain wrong and quite disturbing.

No matter what breed of animal it is, it should not be taken from an innocent family and get tortured to death.

And that’s why I support the few organizations and well-known personnel that are trying to put a stop to this festival, China’s dog farms, and their cruel tactics.