(10 Jun 2016) A group of Chinese animal rights activists held a protest against eating dog meat on Friday, ahead of the upcoming Dog Meat Festival, an annual event that takes place in Yulin city in China's southerly Guangxi province.
Gathering outside the office of the Yulin City local government in Beijing, activists held signs and banners and brought a petition urging authorities to stop the festival.
According to the animal rights campaign group Humane Society International, more than 10 million dogs are killed every year across China for their meat, with thousands set to die ahead of the Yulin festival on 21 June.
Peter Li, the China policy specialist of Humane Society International, an organisation that has been advocating for putting an end to the festival, claimed to have seen dogs and cats earmarked for slaughter while wearing collars, a sign - he claimed - of animal theft.
He believes that authorities should enforce existing laws in China that forbid the transportation of dogs to such festivals.
The small protest outside the Yulin offices in Beijing was attended by around 20 people, many of whom had brought their pets with them.
The Yulin dog festival sparks yearly protests around the world as thousands of dogs are slaughtered and served in restaurants in the city, a practice that is defended by those who join in as an expression of cultural heritage.
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