Yulin 2017, no truce

21st of June Edition. We have just learned that this atrocious "festival" is taking place despite the city's ban on traders selling dog meat. Together with our ACTAsia partner in the field, we will endeavour to monitor whether the authorities are carrying out the checks that were previously announced. We will verify that the sellers of meat are condemned by these new fines in the case of non-compliance with this prohibition.

Good news! The infamous "Yulin Dog Meat Festival" in China is expected to shed less blood this year. The sale of dog meat at this event according to our sources could be banned by the local authorities from the 15th June until the 21st June. It has been reported that in the event of a breach of the ban, restaurants, street vendors and merchants will incur a fine of up to 100,000 Yuan (approximately US $ 14,500) and / or an arrest for a violation.

One Voice is pleased with this first step in the right direction! Remember, last year, we asked for your mobilization to denounce this gigantic open-air massacre, responsible for the deaths of at least 10,000 dogs every year in atrocious suffering. The petition we handed over to the Chinese Ambassador in France has borne fruit! The mobilization has been international and the media have seized this subject! Thus, local authorities began to measure the scale of the scandal and have tried to calm international anger by making this positive step...

However, One Voice remains always vigilant. The official ban on the sale of dog meat will only be temporary. In addition, we fear that these murders will continue to be perpetuated, only this time in the backyards and just outside the city limits of Yulin where the trade will remain legal. Our work therefore aims to initiate a change in practices in depth. Through our "Caring for Life" program and with our ACTAsia partner we strive to educate the population, especially the younger ones, in order to change people's attitudes and to lay the foundations for a more compassionate life with a regard to all beings, whatever they may be.

This approach seems much more effective than the bogus rescue attempts and their vested interests. For some time now we have seen the explosion of a new market: to satisfy the associations that want to "save" dogs, they now sell those who are sick and who would not be palatable to the consumers ... This juicy "business" was born following a move by a certain Marc Ching in 2016. This entrepreneur made a great noise by calling for public generosity, formally to finance the purchase of 1000 dogs and then place them in Western homes. The operation turned out to be a dark scam. An inquiry by the British newspaper the Mail on Sunday revealed a few months later that nearly two-thirds of the so-called "survivors" were finally dead, crammed into cages or abandoned and left to their own fate.

Only the action of local participants and the education of minds are likely to lead to lasting social changes with regard to animals. Consciousness takes time. Many Chinese people are still convinced that dogs are no better than "just objects". So One Voice is not ready to give up and continues fight!