Alicia Abelson
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Activists are rallying outside of the Chinese Embassy on Connecticut Avenue, NW Monday to protest that nation’s annual dog meat festival.
Care2, the organization behind the event, will deliver a petition with 1.1 million signatures urging officials to stop the festival which occurs in Yulin, China on June 21.
Miranda Becker, Care2’s Member Activism Coordinator, told WMAL, “through this event, Care2 members are showing embassy officials that we will not be silent or unseen. We are urging them not to remain apathetic that this horrific event takes place year after year.”
While yearly slaughter rates for the festival have decreased because of activism, over 10,000 dogs were still killed during the 2014 and 2015 Yulin Dog Meat Festival.
There have been reports of dogs being kept in an inhuman manner at the festival before being tortured and killed. It has also been reported that family pets were stolen and killed for the festival.
“It’s become clear that this festival is an event where the slaughter and torture of dogs is permitted to go on unchecked,” said Becker.
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