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Chinese dog-eating festival being carried out secretly?

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It was supposedly shut down last year.

But an undercover investigation by Humane Society International (HSI) has revealed that dogs and cats are being stolen and slaughtered in the thousands to feed residents in Yulin, China.

For them, the Yulin dog-eating festival (taking place on June 22 this year) is an annual celebration of the summer solstice.

But to critics, the event is extreme cruelty.

Animals are transported in bad conditions, which leave them dehydrated. Those that survive the commute end up with broken bones.

According to The Guardian, Telegraph and Daily Mail, about 10,000 animals - mainly dogs - are slaughtered and eaten as part of a hot pot dish.

PHOTO: YOUTUBE/ LORD SPODA

Dog-eating is not illegal in China but animal lovers all over the world especially in the US, UK and Australia have been petitioning to have the festival shut down.

This year, the outrage has gone global since May as #stopyulin2015 trends on social media.

Almost 250,000 tweets have been posted under the hashtag #stopyulin2015. 

US animal activist group Duo Duo has collected over 200,000 signatures for its petition to ban the festival.

HSI's Peter Li, who was part of the recent undercover investigation said the newly-slaughtered dogs are impaled on spikes.

Slaughterhouse workers were also instructed to kill the animals in the dark.

Full of blood

He told MailOnline: "Mass dog slaughter is still going on at Yulin despite the local authorities trying to give the impression that's it's ended.

"The Yulin government has declared the 'festival' will not happen, but this is mere semantics and thousands of dogs will still die for their meat whether it's called a festival or not."

His description of slaughterhouse conditions has outraged animal lovers.

"The place was full of blood, internal organs of the dogs and cats, blow torched carcasses and freshly slaughtered dogs hanging on hooks.

"We saw two wire cages filled with cats waiting to be slaughtered the next day.

They were suffering from long journeys, food deprivation, mental trauma, and illnesses."

Sources: The Guardian, Daily Mail and Telegraph

animalsUncategorisedChina