‘Nobody Knows How Horrific It Is’: Race is on to Rescue Animals From Annual Chinese Dog-Eating Festival Where Pets Are Stolen From Owners Then Tortured to Death Because Their Heightened Adrenalin ‘Improves the Meat’
Animal rights groups are preparing to rescue dozens of dogs from a barbaric ‘festival’ in China where pets are not only eaten but tortured first because raised adrenalin levels allegedly ‘heighten a man’s sexual prowess.’ Thousands of dogs are rounded up every year and sent to the 10-day Yulin Lychee and Dog Meat Festival in southern China. It is due to kick off on Wednesday.
Estimates are that 10,000 dogs are eaten – with lychees – each year. ‘Nobody knows how horrific it is. I’ve been there,’ Los Angeles animal advocate Bobi Leonard who has travelled to China multiple times told in an exclusive interview. ‘There are a lot of people there who are against it,’ added Leonard, a skin-care expert who donates 20% of her profits to animal charities. ‘They are advocates that really fight.’
Eating dogs is common in China and some other parts of Asia and has been for hundreds of years, but owners who have adopted rescued dogs say what happens every year in Yulin is truly horrifying. The dogs are tormented in the most unspeakable ways before being killed with the belief that the heightened adrenaline released due to the pain improves the quality of the meat, Sheena Gao a board member of the Animals Hope and Wellness Foundation, which has shelters in both China and Los Angeles, explained.
Festival goers also believe this ‘improved’ meat increases male sexual performance, wards off disease and provides good fortune. ‘The dogs are torched, clubbed, boiled alive, skinned alive. It’s absolutely horrific,’ said Gao, who along with composer Rayko spearheaded a June 11 fundraiser at the Rafi Lounge in Malibu hosted by the groups Yoga Stops Yulin and In Defense of Animals.
Thousands of dogs, both stray and pets, are snatched off the streets or stolen from families, and then crammed into tiny wire cages where they are then transported across China to Yulin in preparation for the festival, said Gao. ‘The dogs and cats in these trucks go for days without food or water and when they arrive they are extremely sick or injured,’ said Gao. ‘Our ultimate goal is to put an end to the horrific Yulin Dog Meat Festival.’
There are still a lot of people in China – let alone in America – who are unaware of the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, something Susan Praver hopes to change. Praver adopted Chinglee, her 7-year-old part-Samoyed part-American Eskimo, in 2017 after reading online about rescuing dogs from China.
‘When I was reading about this I freaked out and knew I had to do something. I needed to get involved. I couldn’t even sleep thinking about this,’ said the luxury real estate agent. ‘It’s not just that they eat the dog, they feel the more they torture the dog, the better the meat.’
‘I saw a photo of my dog online. He was all dirty and bloody. They were going to hang him until a wonderful person named Marc Ching, whom my dog is named after, stepped in and saved him. He was buying the dogs at the festival by pretending to be a restaurant owner.’
A pioneer in bringing awareness to the infamous festival, Ching founded Animal Hope & Wellness and has gone on to save tens of thousands of dogs. ‘The majority of people in China who know about this festival are opposed to it. And then there are those that don’t even know it exists, which is why social media and spreading the word is so vital,’ Praver added.
While some may argue the subject matter is too gruesome, Amber Doughty explained that a person doesn’t have to look at the photos and videos in order to support the cause. ‘I am more comfortable reading about it because I can’t but see the visuals. It’s just too heartbreaking,’ said Doughty who adopted her 7-year-old Chow/Shiba Inu mix from a rescue group that brings dogs back from China.
‘I saw him and I was like I have to meet him. You just know. When I took him to the vet, they found grooves in his gums so he was probably gnawing at a fence trying to get out. He is missing some teeth, said Doughty. ‘Griffin is my child, my fur baby,’ added Doughty who agrees that awareness is the first step towards a solution. ‘
‘More people need to know about this. It can’t be ignored. When I bring up the subject, some people say stop, I don’t want to hear about it. ‘But not hearing about it doesn’t mean it’s not happening,’ Doughty reasoned. ‘I want to be the voice for the voiceless.’
Anya McGrath adopted 6-year-old Mira, a Chinese Village Dog, in 2020 after being rescued while en route to the Yulin Dog Meat Festival. ‘She was really skinny and really timid. When I got her, you could tell she had been nursing. We don’t know what happened to her puppies. She seemed really sad, like melancholy,’ said McGrath. ‘But she is much happier now.’ McGrath, a vegan. said all animals should be protected ‘If people knew what really happened to these animals, they would think differently.’
Eating dog meat in China dates back hundreds of years, but the Yulin festival only started in 2009 and is held over the Sumer Solstice, which this year falls on Wednesday next week. The notion is that consuming meat during this time of the year brings extra good luck and is supposed to ward off the summer heat.
Most argue that the festival is merely a marketing ploy for a lucrative business where restaurant owners and traders come to eat and buy the ‘medicinal’ meat. Contrary to this belief, dog meat has no known health benefits and after the long journey to the city of Yulin in Guangxi province, many of the dogs arrive sick with canine influenza, infections, parvo, distemper and/or parasites.
‘We are seeing the younger generation in China getting more involved. When they hear about the truckloads of caged dogs and cats making their annual trek to Yulin, they do what they can to stop the trucks and rescue the animals,’ said Praver. ‘However, more awareness is needed.’
All the people who have rescued animals that were bound for the festival recognize that they can only do so much. ‘It feels good to rescue a dog from such a gruesome death,’ said Gao. ‘But we also have to realize it is only a drop in the bucket and for each dog saved, hundreds more are not.’
To support efforts to save Yulin’s dogs, visit: https://www.animalhopeandwellness.org/china-shelter-available-dogs-cats
