Photo of dogs in park in Shanghai (AP Photo)
The tradition in Qianxi in the wealthy coastal province of Zhejiang dates back 600 years to celebrate a local military victory and is normally held every October, the official Xinhua news agency said. The ancient fair was replaced by a modern commodity fair in the 1980s, but dog-eating has been kept as a tradition. The tradition of eating dog meat among local people traces back to the beginning of the Ming Dynasty over 600 years ago. A folklore goes that dogs in Qianxi were secretly killed by the troops of Zhu Yuanzhang so they could not alert the town of the incoming army. Zhu Yuanzhang was the founder of the Ming Dynasty which lasted from 1368-1644. After the conquest, dog meat was served at the feast of victory celebration. Local people began to eat dog meat as a special snack during a temple fair held at a shrine for the emperor and his empress even though the Ming Dynasty has long been over the tradition stuck. It wasn’t until modern times and worry from visitors to the festival of contamination that live butchering was done during the festival.
The government has now stopped the dog-eating carnival which is traditionally held in every October in Qianxi Township, Jinhua City in Zhejiang Province due to resentment voiced on the Internet as well as increasing discontent among villagers of the dogs being butchered in the streets.
Hundreds of thousands of internet users posted criticisms of the carnival on forums and social networking sites all over China and the West, slamming the tradition and calling on the local government to intervene. In a pretty telling pole of how Chinese Citizens felt about the carnival 91% 12,000 users said “No” to the carnival in a vote on Weibo.com, a popular blog in China. Most villagers agree with the ban though some whose families have been practicing the tradition for hundreds of years feel it is like other Chinese Festivals to them question the legitimacy of the ban on the folk custom. Villagers are in agreement though that the festival became a full out slaughter and they agree that had to stop.
Those who called on the government to ban the festival are happy there was a quick response to the internet protests and hope that this means dog will no longer be on the menu anywhere in China. The Chinese middle class are now keeping pet dogs something that has never happened in the long history of China. Small dogs called sleeve dogs or lion dog (our modern Pekingese) were kept in the Imperial Palace by the ladies tucked inside of their sleeves and carried around the forbidden city.
These poor pups!!!! Something must continue to be done to stop this. These people are CRAZY!! I’d kill over my dog. Help spread the word on this awful practice!!!!
I agree, this needs to stop! Tradition is no excuse to continue such an abhorent practice.
I do want to share that most people in China don’t eat dog anymore. My husband is Chinese and he has never eaten it and neither has anyone in his family. Dogs in China are mostly kept as guard dogs, sometimes as pets, but not usually as livestock.
China still has a long way to go when it comes to sharing our view of dogs. Big dogs are very seldom kept as pets – except perhaps the Chow Chow and Shar-Pei which are only owned by the wealthy. Small dogs as pets are common but not like here in the US. And how they care for their dogs is different. The dogs that I saw when I was in China were allowed to roam around the city on their own during the day when the owners were at work. I don’t recall seeing dog food sold in the stores in China so they certainly don’t have all the specialty brand dog foods that we have for our pets. There are veterinary clinics but they number less than a tenth of what we have and very expensive. I never saw and am not certain of any form of animal control. Dogs are not required to get rabies vaccinations so when a dog is found with rabies, the Chinese government is known to step in and kill lots of other dogs in the area for fear that they might have rabies too. My husband’s family lost one of their dogs to such government action.
Dogs in most other places around the world still have a long way to go as compared to our pampered pups in the US and Europe. But with pet organizations around the world in conjunction with social media, we can make a difference.
Hi All, this activity HAS NOT BEEN STOPPED IN CHINA AT ALL. its a misunderstanding.
the truth is, the citizen in Zhejiang Jinhua complained ITS TOO BRUTAL TO KILL THE DOGS RIGHT ON THE STREEET, SO THE GOVERNMENT DECIDED TO GET ALL THE DOGS INTO ONE SLAUGHTER HOUSE, KILL THEM BEFORE DELIVER TO STALLS AND SELL! SHAME ON THOSE CHINESE!