Shocking pictures of the Chinese dog meat festival and why activists are against it

Dogs are beaten or bled to death, then eaten at the Yulin, China dog meat festival. Thousands of Chinese citizens have protested the festival, but authorities are yet to act. 

It's a few days to go, for the 2016 edition and social activists like Avaaz,  a 41-million-person global campaign network are also coming out to show how it's hurting China's global image. 

There are some tribes were dog meat is a delicacy, like the Calabar people of Nigeria, who consume dog meat in their homes. The Chinese dog meat festival is on a different level.Dogs are beaten or bled to death, then eaten at the Yulin dog meat festival. 

For the Yulin dog meat festival, some dogs are stolen from their owners according to. Then they’re hung upside down from hooks, a slit cut from their anus and skin ripped off their bodies, and sold to be eaten. 

The suffering must be unbearable -- new research shows that in terms of emotion, dogs' brains are much like ours, something dog owners and lovers understand well. When we see dogs for what they are -- living beings with thoughts and feelings -- the torture they endure at this 'festival' becomes inexcusable. 

The tradition of dog meat consumption began over 400 years ago in China. Many believed that dog meat would help ward off the heat felt through the summer months. It wasn't until about 5 years ago the festival in Yulin began.

About 10,000 to 15,000 dogs are consumed during the 10 days of the festival.

Throughout the 10 days of festivities dogs are paraded in wooden crates and metal cages and are taken to be skinned and burned for consumption of festival attendants and local residents.

The local residents and festival organizers claim that the dogs are killed humanely and that "eating dog is no different from eating pork or beef". Campaigners like avaaz.org have claimed, however, that the animals are "treated abominably", which is shown by the various photographs that have surfaced of the event.

Concerns over the preparation of the dogs have been fuelled by pictures that have circulated featuring two dogs in boiling water in China. 

It is claimed that this is because some Chinese prefer the taste of adrenaline-soaked meat. In some areas, dogs are beaten to death in order to release blood into the meat.

The trade has been linked to cholera and rabies, according to the World Health Organisation.

Avaaz is also campaigning with this petition to stop puppy slaughter.

Image Credits: Humane Society International