In a dramatic change of course, the infamous annual dog meat festival in Yulin, China, has reportedly been banned from selling dog meat.
Though dogs have been eaten in parts of East Asia for centuries, the ten-day Lychee and Dog Meat Festival in southern China is relatively new. Founded in 2010, the festival has sparked global controversy throughout its short history. Chinese and international animal advocates have condemned the event for slaughtering thousands of dogs each year, many of them stolen pets or strays.
In a May 17 press release, Humane Society International and the advocacy group Duo Duo Animal Welfare Project reported that the city is poised “to prohibit restaurants, street vendors and market traders from selling dog meat at the event.”
The ban, reportedly spearheaded by Mo Gong Ming, Yulin’s newly appointed Party Secretary, will come into force on June 15, one week before the festival’s scheduled June 21 opening. It will be enforced by risk of arrest and fines up to 100,000 yuan ($14,500).
“The Yulin dog meat festival is not over just yet,” said Peter Li, a China policy specialist at Humane Society International, in a statement. “But if this news is true as we hope, it is a really big nail in the coffin for a gruesome event that has come to symbolize China’s crime-fueled dog meat trade.”