For quite some time, people all around the world are appalled by the dog meat trade, with the upcoming annual Yulin Meat Festival causing the biggest backlash.
With more than 10,000 dogs killed for the festival held during the summer solstice, animal loves and animal-welfare supporters are rightfully up in arms about the brutal killings of dog. And so are the Chinese.
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To date, more than 8 million Chinese citizens have taken to the web to sign an online petition supporting a legislative proposal to ban the dog meat industry.
The proposal was submitted by National People’s Congress Deputy Zheng Xiaohe in 2015 and has gained traction among the Chinese, with it receiving the largest number of signatures for a proposal open to the public through the Chinese government’s website, according to the Humane Society International.
“It is very encouraging that a ban on China’s dog and cat meat trade has been proposed and that it has received such significant public support from inside China itself,” Peter Li, HSI’s China policy specialist, said in a statement. “The National People’s Congress can no longer ignore the wishes of so many millions of its citizens to end the cruel and largely illegal dog meat trade – and in particular shut down the dog meat festival in Yulin.”
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While this year’s legislative session has ended and therefore off the table for this year, advocates are hoping this strong response from the public will pressure the government to adopt the proposal – and enforce it.
Chinese officials have been vocal about both not supporting the Yulin festival and stating they will shut it down, but as last year showed, their promises rang hollow.
Let’s hope the future is a different story.
Related: Woman Travels More Than 1,200 Miles to Save 100 Dogs From Yulin Dog Meat Festival
Image via Flickr/Animals Asia
