If you’re an animal lover, we probably don’t need to tell you all the gory details about the Yulin Dog Meat Festival in China. In short, the festival is held every year to mark the summer solstice, in which thousands of dogs and cats are brutally bludgeoned to death and sold for their meat. 

At its height, the Yulin Festival was said to be responsible for 10,000 to 15,000 slaughtered dogs. In 2014 that figure was reported as dropping to 2,000 to 3,000. Reliable sources put last year’s numbers under 1,000. Given the attention that this horrific festival has been given from activists and celebrities alike, it wouldn’t be far off to suggest that changing public opinion is behind this decline.

But now there is finally good news for the millions of animal lovers worldwide that have been tirelessly fighting to stop the festival for years…

According to a press release from Humane Society International, the Yulin government is set to prohibit restaurants, street vendors, and market traders from selling dog meat at the event. This is a huge milestone for animals! 

The ban is believed to have been initiated by Mr. Mo Gong Ming, Yulin’s new Party Secretary and the ban will come into effect on the June 15, 2017 – just one week prior to the festival start date on June 21st. The ban will be strictly enforced with fines up to 100,000 yuan and risk of arrest for violations.

Peter Li, the China Policy specialist at Humane Society International, said in a statement: “The Yulin dog meat festival is not over just yet, but if this news is true as we hope, it is a really big nail in the coffin for a gruesome event that has come to symbolize China’s crime-fuelled dog meat trade…. As opposition to this trade has grown within China and across the world, much focus has been placed on the Yulin festival and so it is significant politically that the authorities are taking the outrage to curb this cruelty seriously.” 

Now Animal rights organizations are urging Yulin authorities to make the ban permanent and are also making public service announcements warning against transporting dogs for the meat trade and are working towards building a government facility to house confiscated animals.

With one petition having 11 million signatures being handing to the Yulin government on behalf of Humane Society International, Duo Duo Animal Welfare Project, RaiseUrPaw, Care2 and Avaaz, it’s clear that this blatant cruelty will no longer be accepted and the Yulin Dog Meat Festival will soon come to end completely. Share this positive news with all the animal lovers you know!

All image source: Humane Society International