These Dogs Have Been Stolen from Their Owners, Now They'll Be Eaten

For the northern hemisphere, Spring ends on June 21st. The season that brings us blooming flowers, the chirp of newly hatched chicks, and lush green hillsides is rightly synonymous with new beginnings. But for some, the happy season is anything but.

Right now, Yulin, China is gearing up for the Yulin Dog Meat Festival. The annual event lasts 10 days and is responsible for the brutal torture and killing of thousands of dogs each year. Dog meat consumers believe that the meat tastes better when they have more adrenaline in their blood — so butchers will often torture them to death in order to increase their adrenaline flow. The canines are beaten, burned alive with blowtorches, or tossed into boiling pots of water.

Dogs are already being rounded up in preparation for this cruel festival. Sign to help save them.

According to animal rights activists in the city of Dazhou in south-western China, dogs are being rounded up and housed in horrible conditions. The pooches are being stocked and ready to ship out. First, they will endure a brutal ride south to Yulin and then be slaughtered and eaten.

Some of the dogs are actually stolen pets, they have collars still bearing their names and the name of their owners. People who are surely panicking trying to find their pet before it's too late. The activists have found at least 300 pooches being held in Dazhou alone, and say other facilities all over the province of Sichuan are holding hundreds more.

When they attempted to rescue some of the dogs, according to them, officials confiscated them and returned them right back to the dog thieves and traders.

China has cracked down on the festival and its numbers have slowly dropped, but organizers are still planning to go ahead with it. That means there is little time to speak up and demand that officials from Sichuan province and the city of Dazhou stop harboring dog meat traders and rescue the dogs so they won't become food.

Please sign the petition if you agree.