RantCrush Top 5: May 18, 2017

Animal rights activists say that the annual Yulin Dog Meat festival in China, where thousands of dogs are killed and eaten, has been canceled. The festival is a long-running tradition that provides the city with a lot of extra income. Eating cats and dogs in China is viewed similarly to eating any other animal. But keeping dogs as pets has become much more popular in recent years, and the festival has become heavily criticized. Activists estimate that out of the 10 million dogs and 4 million cats that are killed for their meat each year, the majority are stolen pets or stray animals. During the Yulin festival, the dogs are put in small cages and treated poorly before being beaten to death and served to festivalgoers.

It’s not clear if the ban in Yulin is permanent or if other cities will follow. But the authorities listened to international outcry, and a petition calling for an end to the festival garnered 11 million signatures last year. “Even if this is a temporary ban, we hope this will have a domino effect, leading to the collapse of the dog meat trade,” said Andrea Gung, the executive director of an anti-dog and cat meat campaign group called the Duo Duo Project.

China will ban the sale of dog meat at #Yulin festival, showing global outrage did not go unnoticed: https://t.co/hs6cNFjrS9 pic.twitter.com/WeFhZoqYN8

— Animal Protection (@MoveTheWorld) May 18, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.