Critics bark about dog-eating festival's health risks(2)

TUG-OF-WAR

The dog-eating carnival has come under the spotlight due to rising awareness of animal rights among the public and the growing number of pet owners in recent years.

Notably, many Chinese pop stars have joined the camp of those campaigning to stamp out the tradition this year. But they may be disappointed by the results of an online poll entitled "What do you think of dog-eating?"

The ongoing poll, launched by Chinese portal Sina, showed 63 percent of over 68,000 respondents regard dog-eating as a "personal freedom" and one deserving no finger-pointing, while 25 percent say the practice should be condemned.

"To eat or not to eat, this question reflects the conflict between the folk custom and animal protection," said Zhou Xiaozheng, a sociology professor at Renmin University of China.

Zhou believes the calls for scrapping the consumption of dogs, the most common companion animal, should be respected because doing so would reflect social progress.

Since there is no end to the debate, he said what can be done now is to reduce the suffering of dogs for eating. The Yulin government promised it would strictly prohibit cruel killing in public during the festival.

The letter expressed concern that slaughtering dogs on streets or hanging their bodies in restaurants would be detrimental to children's mental health, citing investigations that found some serial murderers abused animals during childhood.

Zhong Guanghai, a 63-year-old resident of Yulin, saw no point in canceling the longstanding tradition. "But people shouldn't torture dogs when butchering them," he said.

Animal activist Pian Kongshan said he planned to join a TV debate and publish a book to build consensus to uproot the custom.

During the festival in 2012 and 2013, Pian drew public attention by kneeling down for photos in front of piles of dog carcasses at a Yulin market.

In 2011, a similar event derived from a 600-year-old tradition in Qianxi Township, Zhejiang Province, was banned following a public outcry.