Dog Meat Festival

Dear YuLin Governor Chen Wu:

We are writing you to request that the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region government must cancel the “Dog Meat Festival” that is held on June 22 in Yulin. As foreigners who have great respect for the Chinese people and Chinese civilization, We are saddened to learn that the Yulin “Dog Meat Festival” still exists in a modern civilized society. We believe that this event has no place in the 21st century. We adamantly voice our strong opposition to this barbaric “festival” for the following five reasons:

First, China is the country with the second largest number of rabies cases in the world. The Yulin government itself admitted in 2007 that the city was one of the hardest hit by rabies outbreaks. According to a news report (http://gx.news.163.com/07/0102/14/33RCB62S006300CU.html), 338 rabies cases were reported in Yulin between 2002 and 2006. All of the infected people died from this disease. The annual economic cost to Yulin amounted to 6.67 million Yuan. Based on the toll the disease is taking on the health of the city’s residents, the authorities in Yulin should be doing everything they can to prevent the spread of the disease. Dogs transported for days in crowded conditions to Yulin, with compromised immunity systems, are known to be vulnerable to the spread of illnesses. Allowing the “Dog Meat Festival” to continue is a sign of a lack of vigilance at the very least. Given the national government’s policy on rabies prevention and control, it might even be construed as wanton contempt and total negligence of the public. In the interest of public health, disease prevention, and enforcement of the national government’s policies, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region government should put an end to the event.

Second, the “Dog Meat Festival” can potentially undermine social stability, aggravate existing social conflicts, and sabotage the central government’s efforts to build a harmonious society. A significant number of the dogs sold on the market, according to Chinese activist investigations, are stolen household pets or are watch dogs of rural families. The recent retaliative, brutal assault on dog thieves by victims of dog theft indicates the potentially explosive nature of confrontations between dog owners and the dog meat industry. Frankly, the violent action by the villagers in Guangxi was a reaction to the fact that local law enforcement had long failed to protect the interest of the dog owners. Allowing the “Dog Meat Festival” to continue is like endorsing dog theft, which supplies the dog meat industry. It could seriously damage the authority of the government and the credibility of state laws. If dog theft continues, violent confrontations between dog owners and animal lovers and the dog meat industry will escalate and intensify, potentially leading to mass unrest. The government can prevent such a situation from developing by ending the Yulin “Dog Meat Festival.”

Third, the Yulin “Dog Meat Festival” is a dangerous food safety issue. Dogs sold on the market are sick and dying animals. They suffer from

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