What is the idea of a flash mob?
As part of the action, social media users from different countries publish photos with their pets – dogs or cats – and a leaflet with the inscription #StopYulin. Also, some simply post pictures of animals by adding the appropriate hashtag. The purpose of the action is to tell as many people as possible about what happens in Yulin every summer in order to unite residents from all over the world and influence the Chinese government to impose a ban on the massacre. Flash mob participants and their subscribers express their opinion about the festival, many cannot restrain their feelings. Here are some of the comments:
“No words only emotions. Moreover, the most evil emotions”;
“Hell on earth exists. And he’s where our friends eat. He is where the savages, taking care of their potency, have been roasting and boiling our little brothers alive for many years!
“I was wildly horrified when I noticed the video of people brutally killing animals by throwing them into hot water and beating them to death. I believe that no one deserves such a death! People, please don’t be so cruel to animals, including yourself!”;
“If you are a man, you will not turn a blind eye to the festival of sadists taking place in China, flayers who painfully kill children. Dogs in terms of intelligence are equal to a 3-4-year-old child. They understand everything, our every word, intonation, they are sad with us and know how to rejoice with us, they serve us faithfully, rescuing people under rubble, during fires, preventing terrorist attacks, finding bombs, drugs, rescuing drowning people …. How can you do this?”;
“In a world where friends are eaten, there will never be peace and quiet.”
One of the Russian-speaking Instagram users captioned a photo with her dog: “I don’t know what drives them, but after watching the videos, my heart ached.” Indeed, such frames from the festival are found on the Internet until they are blocked. Also, dog rescue volunteers in Yulin post videos of cages full of dogs waiting to be killed. Volunteers from different countries describe how our smaller brothers are redeemed. They say that Chinese sellers hide live “goods”, are reluctant to negotiate, but they will not refuse money. “Dogs are weighed in kilograms. 19 yuan for 1 kg and 17 yuan with a discount… volunteers buy dogs out of hell,” writes a user from Vladivostok.
Who saves dogs and how?
Caring people from all over the world come to Yulin before the festival to save the dogs. They donate their funds, collect them through the Internet or even take out loans. Volunteers pay to be given dogs. There are so many animals in cages (often rammed into cages for transporting chickens), and there can only be enough money for a few! It is painful and difficult to choose those who will survive, leaving others to be torn to pieces. In addition, after the ransom, it is necessary to find a veterinarian and provide treatment for the dogs, since they are mostly in a deplorable state. Then the pet needs to find a shelter or owner. Often, rescued “tails” are taken by people from other countries who have seen photos of the poor fellows in social networks.
Not all Chinese support the holding of this festival, and the number of opponents of this tradition is growing every year. Some residents of the country also cooperate with volunteers, hold rallies, buy dogs. So, millionaire Wang Yan decided to help animals when he himself lost his beloved dog. The Chinese tried to find her in the nearby slaughterhouses, but in vain. But what he saw impressed the man so much that he spent all his fortune, bought a slaughterhouse with two thousand dogs and created a shelter for them.
Those who do not have the opportunity to help physically and financially, not only participate in such flash mobs, share information, but also sign petitions, come to the Chinese embassies in their cities. They arrange rallies and minutes of silence, bring candles, carnations and soft toys in memory of our little brothers who were tortured to death. Campaigners against the festival are calling not to buy Chinese goods, not to travel to the country as a tourist, not to order Chinese food in restaurants until the ban is in place. This “battle” has been going on for more than one year, but it has not yet brought results. Let’s figure out what kind of holiday it is and why it will not be canceled in any way.
What is this festival and what is it eaten with?
The Dog Meat Festival is a traditional folk festival on the day of the summer solstice, which takes place from 21 to 30 June. The festival is not officially established by the Chinese authorities, but formed on its own. There are several reasons why it is customary to kill dogs at this time, and they all refer to history. One of them is a proverb that says: “In winter, they stop eating raw fish salad with rice, and in summer they stop eating dog meat.” That is, eating dog meat symbolizes the end of the season and the ripening of the crop. Another reason is Chinese cosmology. The inhabitants of the country refer almost everything that surrounds them to the elements “yin” (female earthly principle) and “yang” (male light heavenly power). The summer solstice refers to the energy of “yang”, which means that you need to eat something hot, flammable. In the views of the Chinese, the most “yang” food is just dog meat and lychee. In addition, some residents are confident in the health benefits of such “food”.
The Chinese believe that the greater the release of adrenaline, the tastier the meat. Therefore, animals are brutally killed in front of each other, beaten with sticks, skinned alive and boiled. It is important to note that dogs are brought from different parts of the country, often stolen from their owners. If the owner is lucky enough to find his pet in one of the markets, he will have to fork out to save his life. According to rough estimates, every summer 10-15 thousand dogs die a painful death.
The fact that the holiday is unofficial does not mean that the country’s authorities are fighting it. They declare that they do not support the holding of the festival, but this is a tradition and they are not going to ban it. Neither the millions of opponents of the festival in many countries, nor the statements of celebrities who ask for the killings to be canceled, do not lead to the desired result.
Why isn’t the festival banned?
Despite the fact that the festival itself takes place in China, dogs are also eaten in other countries: in South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, even in Uzbekistan, it is extremely rare, but they still eat dog meat – according to local belief, it has medicinal properties. It is shocking, but this “delicacy” was on the table of about 3% of the Swiss – the inhabitants of one of the civilized countries of Europe are also not averse to eating dogs.
The organizers of the festival claim that dogs are killed humanely, and eating their meat is no different from eating pork or beef. It is difficult to find fault with their words, because in other countries cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, etc. are slaughtered in huge numbers. But what about the tradition of roasting a turkey on Thanksgiving Day?
Double standards are also noted under the posts of the #StopYulin campaign. “Why don’t the Chinese do flash mobs and boycott the rest of the world when we fry barbecue? If we boycott, then meat in principle. And this is not duplicity!”, – writes one of the users. “The point is to protect dogs, but support the killing of livestock? Speciesism in its purest form,” asks another. However, there is a point! In the struggle for the life and freedom of some animals, you can open your eyes to the suffering of others. Eating dogs, which, for example, a resident of our country is not accustomed to perceive as lunch or dinner, can “sober up” and make you look at your own plate more carefully, think about what his food used to be. This is confirmed by the following comment, in which animals are ranked in the same order of value: “Dogs, cats, minks, foxes, rabbits, cows, pigs, mice. Don’t wear fur coats, don’t eat meat. The more people see the light and refuse it, the less will be the demand for murder.
In Russia, it is not customary to eat dogs, but the inhabitants of our country encourage their killing with the ruble, without knowing it. A PETA investigation revealed that leather goods manufacturers do not disdain supplies from slaughterhouses from China. Many gloves, belts and jacket collars found in European markets have been found to be made from dog skin.
Will the festival be cancelled?
All this excitement, rallies, protests and actions are proof that society is changing. China itself is divided into two camps: those who condemn and those who support the holiday. Flashmobs against the Yulin Meat Festival confirm that people oppose cruelty, which is alien to human nature. Every year there are not only more participants in animal protection actions, but also in general people who support veganism. There is no guarantee that the festival will be canceled next year or even in the next few years. However, the demand for killing animals, including farm animals, is already falling. Change is inevitable, and veganism is the future!