Pro

Xu Gang

Eastday.com

I think we should learn from South Korea, a nation where dog meat is also eaten, and control the scale of the festival to minimize its influence. 

The dog meat festival is a public event and should not be forcibly cancelled. We should respect the local custom of eating dog meat. But at the same time, we shouldn't tolerate a festival that features a bloody mass-slaughter of dogs. Actually, it is hard to strike a balance between the custom of eating dog meat and some people's love for animals. Similar festivals will continue until the public are aware that what they do to dogs is wrong.

This dispute will not be settled by simply condemning the slaughter of animals. I think a more effective move would be to guide local people to change outmoded customs and dietary habits. CA

Con

Cao Huafei

Guangming Daily

Slaughtering dogs in public for a festival is contrary to basic human values that keep people from eating companion animals. The large and bloody scene at this festival is also bad for the mental health of festival attendees.

Eating dog meat is not a common culinary practice. There are no strict supervising standards governing the raising, slaughtering, selling or inspecting of farm-bred dogs in China, which means that dog meat is privately slaughtered and butchered. Therefore, the safety of such meat is questionable.

Eating dog meat, or holding a dog-meat carnival is immoral and puts people's health and safety at risk.

I don't think all traditions should be maintained. It is the responsibility of human in modern society to take initiative to put an end to bad traditions. It is only in this way that truly valuable traditions can be maintained while human civilization advances.

As a matter of fact, there is no documented evidence showing that this festival is a long-standing tradition. Those wishing to profit from the suffering of animals are simply using "tradition" as a way to excuse their actions. CA

Pro

Xie Pingxiang

Vice Director of Guangxi Research Society on Traditional Chinese Culture

Eating dog meat is a kind of folk culinary habit. It does not break any laws or regulations, and doing so has nothing to do with morality.

Our society should be tolerant of diverse values. As long as they do not violate any laws or harm others' interests, unique traditions should be preserved and respected. CA

Con

China Small Animal Protection Association

The dog meat festival should be cancelled for the following reasons:

First, eating dog meat is contrary to modern values, including respecting life and promoting civilization. There are now as many as 100 countries and regions that forbid eating the meat of companion animals like dogs and cats.

Second, the safety of the dog meat served at the festival in Yulin is questionable, as the dogs that are slaughtered for the festival do not undergo quarantine treatments.

And last, during the festival, the brutal and bloody scene of the large-scale slaughtering of dogs will negatively influence the society, and especially the mental health of any children who might witness the butchering of dogs. CA

Pro

He Yong

Blog.people.com.cn

I don't think that the arguments being made against the festival are persuasive. In essence, eating the meat of farm-raised dogs is no different from eating the meat of other domesticated animals like chickens, pigs or cows. If eating dog meat should be condemned, so should eating chicken, pork or beef. This would mean that everyone would have to be vegetarian, which is ridiculous and impossible. Moreover, no matter whether it is good for people's health or not, eating dog meat is a personal choice that should be respected. The right to choose what to eat is the same as animal conservationists' right to love and raise dogs. In other words, it is fine for animal rights activists to love and protect dogs. But they should not forbid others from eating dog meat because of their own beliefs. Moreover, the dog meat that people eat is not from pet or guide dogs, but from dogs that have been raised for their meat on farms, just like farm-raised pigs and chickens.

Even if the festival were cancelled due to public pressure, the dogs would still be slaughtered and eaten. Local people eat dog meat because of tradition, not because of the festival. Even if there were no such festival, they would continue to eat dog meat.

Instead of criticizing others for eating dog meat in the name of morality, animal conservationists should call on the public to ensure that dogs are slaughtered in a humane way. CA