The dog meat trade. Just typing those words brings tears to my eyes. I don’t want to write or even read stories about this cruel industry. Nor do I want to watch videos of its many horrors. But I do. Not just because it’s my job, but because I am a human being with compassion and a deep love for dogs.
The Yulin Dog Meat Festival starts today in China. If you aren’t familiar with what that entails, I encourage you to:
Watch #TheCompassionProject PSA
Marc Ching, founder of the Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation and a longtime rescuer of meat dogs, enlisted the likes of Joaquin Phoenix, Matt Damon, Kate Mara, Rooney Mara, Pamela Anderson, Minnie Driver, Alicia Silverstone, Bill Maher, Andy Cohen, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Tricia Helfer, Sia, and others for this moving #TheCompassionProject video.
In it, Marc—who is currently in China saving dogs from butchers who supply meat to the festival—explains:
“This trade is built upon this belief that if you torture or abuse the animal, it makes the meat taste better or it gives health benefits to anyone who eats it. Whether or not you think it’s something to be eaten or on a menu, the cruelty and torture and violence, it’s wrong.”
The actors and musicians who stand with him then call for an end to the stabbing, beating, hanging, skinning, and boiling alive of these innocent and defenseless creatures. They encourage viewers to help put an end to the festival and the industry itself by sharing the PSA. Warning: This video does contain upsetting images.
Learn more about the dog meat trade
Our own Lisa Plummer Savas covers this horrific industry for us. Here are a few of her more recent stories:
- Over 8 Million Chinese Citizens Call for a Ban on the Dog and Cat Meat Trade
- Marc Ching Risks His Life to Save Dogs From the Meat Trade in Asia
- We Talk With a Rescuer at the Yulin Dog Meat Festival
- How a Photo on Facebook Inspired Me to Write About the Dog-Meat Trade
- Soi Dog Foundation Calls on Celebrities to Help End Dog Meat Trade
Help to end it
There are many ways you can get involved, including to:
- Sign Humane Society International’s petition against the festival
- Donate money and/or time to the organizations working to end the dog meat trade, including HSI, Marc’s AHWF, and Soi Dog.
Be happy for the dogs who escape their fate
Lisa has also written about dogs who were rescued from horror-filled lives and adopted into loving forever homes. Find hope in their stories:
- How a Dog Destined for the Dinner Table Got a Second Chance at Life
- Meet the 57 Dogs Rescued From a Dog Meat Farm in South Korea
- Lucky Puppy of the Week: Henry the Tibetan Spaniel
- Meet Lisa, a Terrier Rescued From the Dog Meat Trade in Indonesia
To follow Marc’s work in China this week, like the AHWF Facebook page. You can also read his new Dogster column on pet nutrition, one of his other passions.
