Annual festival slated June 21 in Yulin, celebrates tradition of eating dog meat, hotpot, lychees & drinking liquor on summer solstice.

Judicial experts and animal specialists have said an upcoming festival that serves dog meat in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region is illegal.

More than 40 specialists, including law professors, lawyers and animal rights activists, signed an agreement to shut down the festival on Friday, saying such a "tradition" will affect China's image overseas and should be banned.

"I was told there are four major workshops that produce dog meat in the city. I visited them and found all of them had no business licenses or certificates," Li said, adding he believed the meat made in such places was unhealthy.

The decision to eat the dog meat depends on the individual but trades related to dog meat are illegal according to current Chinese laws, Li said.

An Xiang, an animal rights lawyer in Beijing, said there are no dog farms or legal slaughter houses in China. The dogs for the festival are raised in households, abducted from the streets, or even poisoned, An said.


[link to www.chinadaily.com.cn]