Yulin's "Festival of Cruelty"

Caged dogs unable to move provided by Huffington Post

Yulin's dog eating festival has been around since the 1990's to welcome and celebrate the summer solstice each June. This year, the city of Yulin is expected to slaughter 10,000 dogs for the event. There are many issues that this festival brings forward, and this year all of them have been brought to light and met with more opposition than ever before. (THE IMAGES PRESENTED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE GRAPHIC)

The first point of concern is that China does not have animal protection laws, it is not illegal to eat dogs or cats in China; in fact, they are a common dish in the country. It is not their usual consumption that is the issue (as I will cover soon.) The local officials in Yulin claim that the festival is illegal and nonexistent, though it has been a reoccurring event for the past 25 years. This puts the blame and responsibility on the public, who are the ones celebrating the festival to begin with. Thus the festival has run unopposed by officials, however protesters have gathered each year to buy dogs off of participants, pray for dogs killed, and attempt to liberate the animals from the slaughterhouses.

The second issue is the health and sanitation, or lack there of, that is applied to the Yulin festival. Accounts of Rabies have increased greatly in Yulin in recent years. Michael Koziol of The Sydney Morning Herald reported that "there had been 338 reported cases between 2002 and 2006, making Yulin one of China's most affected cities." The blood and internal organs of the dogs slaughtered are strewn about slaughterhouse floors, causing even more dangers to health. Not only does this festival harm sentient animals, but it holds dangers to the human participants as well.

This brings us to the reason the festival is being protested: the treatment and acquisition of the dogs used in the celebration. Not all of the dogs used are bred for the festival or donated by willing owners and breeders. Household pets and strays from all over China are swiped from homes and off the streets, stolen from their families and lives to be slaughtered for the entertainment of another city halfway across the country. Children are losing their beloved companions for a horrific bloodbath that steals the lives of thousands of dogs (and cats) yearly.
Finally, we address the treatment of the dogs that are to "participate" in the Yulin festival. The dogs are packed into tiny cages, several in each one, providing no room for movement. Some even die of starvation or dehydration before they are taken out for slaughter. Some are burnt alive, some are boiled. Andrea Dung from the Duo Duo project claimed she witnessed dogs being slaughtered while "still wagging their tails," reports the UK Independent. The slaughterhouses are filled with carcasses of skinned dogs and those being drained of blood with their fur still intact. The conditions are truly horrific and can be described more accurately in pictures than in words. This is a second warning: these photos are graphic.

Dog being boiled alive as tweeted by Ricky Gervais

Dog meat preparation photo from The Guardian

A dog being burned alive, as tweeted by Ricky Gervais

Many will say that it is not my place as a westerner and someone who is not native to Yulin or China to criticize the culture and tradition and demand change. But the westerners are not the only ones protesting. Many Chinese citizens have voiced their disapproval online and at the protests in the city itself.

Times are changing, and traditions must too. In order to evolve, some things must be left behind. We can learn to live in peace but we must stop pointless slaughter like this to do so. If you want your voice to be heard make sure you sign the petition to stop the festival here and tag your photos, tweets, and other social medias with #stopyulin2015. We can change the world and we can save lives if we try together.

The Sydney Morning Herald
The Huffington Post
TIME
The Guardian 1 & 2

Animal Dissection in Schools: Oklahoma

Until school ends in a couple of weeks I will not be able to produce an in-depth and better informed article on the controversy of using real animal corpses in academic dissections, but this video has recently brought the topic to light again. A very reputable charter school in Oklahoma, Harding Charter Preparatory High School, posted a video on their Facebook page of some of their students dancing with dead cats to the meow mix jingle. The cat corpses were to be used for in-class dissections, an activity that the Humane Society and PETA are now aggressively tackling at the school. The Humane Society recommends "the school could switch to plastic models, while PETA said it has software available for schools that wish to use computer models," stated a Huffington Post article.

Harding Charter's Facebook page is currently shut down and the students in the video (who still attend the school) are facing repercussions.

The Huffignton Post article touched briefly on the methods in which the cats and dogs used for dissections are acquired, but I will not go in-depth in that until school is over and I can provide a more comprehensive and detailed post on the acquisition and experimentation of dissection-destined animals.

To read the Huffington Post article click here

The Kim Kardashian Controversy: Fur

Kim Kardashian has always been a perpetrator of the fur business, often photographed in very large and expensive real fur coats, and she has always faced retaliation from viewers because of it. However, recently a video filmed at one of her book signings shows activists calling her a murderer and being removed from the store. I understand that fashion is a way for Kim to demonstrate her status, but the fact that she is simply ignoring the suffering behind her coats is very aggravating indeed. She has not issued any statements regarding her coats and does not confront her fans who ask her to change her ways.
The fur industry is brutal, small mammals (like rabbits and minks) are farmed in horrible confined conditions, skinned alive, and then have their bodies dumped in a massive pile. Not only is the industry wasteful, but it is inhumane and murderous.
There is very high quality faux fur on the market and it is becoming very hard to tell the difference, if Kim really wanted to use her fame for the greater good or any reason outside of being famous, she would switch to faux and show her support for her fellow earthlings. Not only would she then be taking some responsibility, but she would also be providing her fans with an affordable and doable action that they could take to help better our planet.

Here is the book signing video:

Dear Future Generations: Sorry

He makes such a powerful video in such a short time. It's a very simple way to think about the impact we're having on this world.

Japan's Whaling Plans: Foiled Again!

The International Whaling Committee (IWC) has rejected Japan's most recent attempt to reinstate the whaling business under the guise of "scientific research." Japan requested permission to kill 330 minke whales a year for the next 12 years in order to gather information on "understand[ing] the Antarctic marine ecosystem and learn[ing] the whales’ population size required for a return to sustainable commercial hunting," as reported by International Business Times (IBT). The plan was known as Newrep-A, and was a very poor attempt to justify the slaughter of the animals. Japan has appealed for permission to hunt whales repeatedly since their license was revoked last year by the International Court of Justice, the highest court in the world.

Children observing a Minke whale head outside of Tokyo (photo from IBC)

Although Japan has announced they intend to resume the hunts in 2015 or 2016, the actual demand for whale meat in the country has been on the decline, as reported by CBC News. Commercial whaling has been outlawed since 1987 and now (actually ever) is definitely not the time to begin again. The planet is in a very delicate place environmentally and whales all over the world have been in trouble since the 80's. Japan does not have the right to slaughter thousands of Minke Whales just as no other nation has the right to slaughter Blue, Humpback, or Grey whales (and all the others). Of course illegal poachers are still running rampant throughout the seas, but at least official governments no longer have the choice to murder these intelligent beings.

I am glad to see that the highest court in the world, the true final say, is prevailing on the side of the whales. People all over are beginning to recognize the true impact we have had on this world and the true power we have to reverse it.

Rejoice! For the minke whales are (legally) protected once again!

Photo from LA Whale Watching

To read the IBT article click here
To read the CBC News article click here
To read the Guardian article click here
To read Japan's proposal, Newrep-A click here

Tehuacan Private Zoo

Sergio Gomez, a conservative congressman for the Congress for the National Action Party in Mexico possessed a private zoo filled with 240 rare, and extremely cramped animals. The Tehuacan zoo was receiving complaints at the conditions the animals were living in and the safety of the guests. The animals were crammed into small cages that were vastly out of proportion with their needs. The Mexican government has already banned animals in circuses and recently passed a series of new laws regarding the treatment and rights of animals.

Photo from BBC

Due to the obvious violation of Gomez's zoo, officials took action; raiding the zoo and rescuing over 100 of the 240 held captive. Among those rescued were animals like tigers, lions, buffaloes, monkeys, crocodiles, pumas, bears, and jaguars. The animals had been held in cages stacked precariously on top of one another, causing them to be irritable as well as to experience serious psychological stress. (This set up also put the guests attending the zoo in danger) It is a good sign that even government officials cannot get away with animal cruelty in Mexico and I believe events like this don't get enough coverage. If other governments were to see how seriously the animal ethics laws are taken in other countries, maybe they would follow the example and mandate higher standards for the treatment of non-humans. I am proud of Mexico for standing by their legislation and acting on such a valuable cause.

To read the whole BBC article, click here

Berlin's Bear Controversy

Photo from The Guardian

Berlin's last living mascot, Schnute the bear, has grown old, frail, and ill throughout her 34 years of life. Now, the conditions Schnute has lived through have not been very healthy, as she and her now deceased sister bear, Maxi, were, according to the Berlin ear Alliance, "for 14 hours a day... kept in the inner enclosures of 8.5 by 11 square meters, only during the animal keepers’ working hours are they allowed on to two tiny concrete platforms surrounded by a wall mounted with giant iron thorns. Aluminum beer barrels, car tires, and a kind of paddling pool are supposed to provide distraction." The organization is now offering to put Schnute to sleep due to her psychological strain and apathetic behavior. I'm unsure where I stand on this issue, but I do feel that the situation should be spread.

To read the full Guardian article, click here