Controversy

The end of China's 600-year-old dog-eating carnival

As dog ownership increases in China, many view the annual dog-eating festival as cruel and unusual

The local government in Jinhua City, China, has decided to end a 600-year-old tradition — butchering, cooking, and eating dogs at an annual festival. Here's what you should know:

How did this tradition begin?
According to legend, a Ming dynasty military leader was trying to invade Jinhua in 1389. To avoid detection, his troops killed all the area's dogs so their barking wouldn't alert the local population. After the successful invasion, "the army held a celebratory feast and served the meat from the slaughtered dogs," says the International Business Times.

And they kept killing dogs year after year?
Yes. As many as 10,000 dogs were eaten each year by attendees at the celebration. "Dogs would be stabbed, strangled and even beaten into comas and thrown into boiling water," says activist Wang Lingyi, as quoted in the Los Angeles Times. But after overwhelming protests on Chinese internet sites, the government elected to make the festival a thing of the past. 

Is dog-eating common in China?
Not like it used to be. It's still socially acceptable, and dogs in cages are a common sight at meat markets. Dog meat was even consumed by Chinese astronauts in space. But dog ownership has increased in recent years (it was banned as a "bourgeois habit" during China's cultural revolution), and many middle-class and one-child families now keep dogs as pets.

Is everyone happy about the festival cancellation?
No. "Some villagers argued that they had emotional attachments to the festival, as it had been passed from generation to generation," says China's Xinhua news agency. But many applauded the decision, and an online poll on the Chinese social networking site Weibo showed that some 90 percent of voters wanted the practice ended.

Sources: Global Post, International Business Times, LA Times

Recommended

Honeybees help gather data about a city's health
Honeybee on flower.
buzz buzz

Honeybees help gather data about a city's health

Pope Francis hospitalized with respiratory infection
Pope Francis.
get well soon

Pope Francis hospitalized with respiratory infection

Amsterdam launches campaign urging rowdy British men to 'stay away'
Amsterdam Red Light District
causing a nuisance

Amsterdam launches campaign urging rowdy British men to 'stay away'

Is the U.S. running out of ammunition?
Cargo of ammunition, weapons and other equipment bound for Ukraine waiting on a tarmac at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware
Today's big question

Is the U.S. running out of ammunition?

Most Popular

How to watch 5 planets align in the night sky on Tuesday
Moon, Jupiter, Venus.
skyline

How to watch 5 planets align in the night sky on Tuesday

'Rewilding' animals could help combat climate change, study finds
Two gray wolves.
where the wild things are

'Rewilding' animals could help combat climate change, study finds

The snowmelt in California could cause a long-lost lake to re-emerge
flooding in Corcoran, California.
lost lake

The snowmelt in California could cause a long-lost lake to re-emerge