Chinese Woman Saves 100 Dogs from Being Eaten at Annual Festival

According to reports from China, a female citizen has saved one hundred dogs from being killed for the annual dog meat festival by paying over a thousand dollars. Yang Shaiyun, a 65-year-old Chinese woman, bought the dogs in the southern city of Yulin on June 20 by paying 7,000 yuan (1,100 dollars). She intends to keep these dogs at her residence, which is two thousand kilometers away from Yulin. Yulin hosts an annual festival where dog meat is consumed, which has faced criticism from a group of animal rights activists. Protests have also gained significant traction on social media. AFP reports that online images of this woman have been published showing her in a market where dogs are sold. Animal rights activists claim this annual festival is violent. Research published by the charity 'Animals Asia' in Hong Kong indicates that most of the dogs gathered for slaughter in Yulin are either stolen or homeless. An online campaign against the annual festival shows how a stray dog is captured for transfer to the dog meat market. Eating dog meat is considered unnatural in most regions of China, and the Yulin festival has many critics in other cities as well. Statistics show that nearly 30 million households in the country own dogs as pets, which has added to the protests in China. However, eating dog meat is not illegal in China, although the government has called for 'respect for food safety laws.' The Yulin annual festival is not a state-sponsored event, and city officials, in response to criticism and protests, have attempted to distance themselves from it by issuing a statement that the municipality 'will never hold such an event.' At the same time, there is no law to prevent such events from occurring.