Yulin 2018

Our hearts are black because despite all ours and other Chinese activists efforts and despite all of the help from our supporters overseas, the 'Lychee Dog Meat Festival' in Yulin, Guangxi will still take place. The butchers and dog meat eaters will attend in force.
Our founder, Du Yufeng will soon travel to Yulin, Guangxi for the 6th year to protest and document the killing.

Dogs like this one and countless others will be brutally tortured, killed and made in to hotpot for the dog meat eaters to gorge on.

​Du will be taking a letter to Mr Huang Haikun, Secretary of Yulin Municipal Committee of the Guangxi Autonomous Region to ask him to ban the dog meat eating and implement tougher laws and sentences for people involved in this despicable trade.

A snapshot of the letter is below. You can read the letter in full by downloading the file.

letter_to_yulin_secretary_2018.pdf
File Size:	211 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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Your support has made Du a stronger woman than she already is. It has enabled her to stand up to the thugs at Yulin. You are part of her Yulin journey. Thank you!

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20th June- morning

The plane to Nanning was delayed for nearly an hour but once it had reached it's destination, Du checked in to her hotel and later that day she met up with some activist friends to make a plan of what they would document in Yulin.

21st June, morning-

Du and her friends hired a car and driver to take them the 200+km in to Yulin. 

The poster says: 'It is illegal to transport cats and dogs across provinces without a licence! Hotline 12345'

When they arrived in Yulin, they made their way to the government buildings to present Party Secretary Mr Huang Haikun a letter asking him to ban dog and cat eating and killing and implement tougher sentences for perpetrators.

They also reported the butchers in Tongkou Market in Yulin City for trafficking (dogs and cats) from illegal sources, suspected illegal criminal income of dogs and cats, slaughtering dogs and cats and other household pets and are suspected of illegal and criminal activities by selling stolen goods which is contrary to the conscience of humanity.

21st June - afternoon

After handing in the letters and showing posters and booklets to the government official representative. Du and her friends staged a peaceful demonstration outside the government offices. They held posters telling people to call a hotline if they saw trucks of dogs and cats being transported from one province border to another because it is illegal to transport them without a licence.  The posters also asked people not to eat cat and dog. Educating and education are the only ways that we will stop people from eating companion animals. Showing all the different ways in which dogs and cats are good for our health and that dogs help humans in time of need may help some people to connect to the dogs and cats and not just see them as food. Until our government decides to pass animal protection laws and ban dog and cat eating, education is the only way to stop it.
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After the protest, they decided to drive in to the dog slaughterhouses and dog meat eating areas.  Du visited the Dongkou and Southbridge Markets. Both were busy with people queueing to buy dog meat. There were many live dogs in the markets waiting to be slaughtered.
​Below- Tongkou Market

Below - Southbridge Market

22nd June- all day
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Our founder, Du Yufeng and her activist friends have visited the farmer's market in Nanning. Du documented the butcher stalls and slaughterhouses where live dogs were killed in front of each other. Among the dogs were mother dogs, some with puppies, others pregnant.
​Cages of cats were also there in the market at Nanning. Du found a premature kitten that had fallen through one of the cages when a mother cat had given birth. Later that day when Du and friends returned, the mother cat had gone. Killed for stupid human's greed Du took the kitten and gave it a Buddhist burial in a green, peaceful place away from the horrors of killing.
Another year of visiting Guangxi, another year of tears and heartbreak. Nothing has changed, the killing is still happening.

If China does not legislate for a companion animal law and ban the dog and cat meat eating, we will never be able to save all the dogs and cats, the faithful friends who will be brutally slaughtered 😭💔

Du pleaded with the butcher to release the mother dog giving birth but he said no. Later that day when Du and friends returned, the mother dog had gone. Killed for stupid human's greed.

22nd June - evening

Du and her friends returned to the slaughterhouse on the way back to their hotel on the off chance that the butcher would let them have some dogs this time.  There was a dead dog there, so Du chanted a Buddhist blessing to help the dog reach enlightenment. 

In the slaughterhouse, Du filmed the machines used to remove the hair from dogs, many of them still alive when they are placed in it. There was also a boiling tank. Torture knows no bounds in the dog meat trade.

Finally after much negotiation, there was VICTORY!! Du managed to save 6 large dogs! 

Once the butcher had agreed to sell the dogs to Du and they had been weighed to determine the price that Du would pay, they were placed in larger cages and then placed in to the car. 

Du took the dogs to Nanning Airport and began the shipping procedures. They will stay there and will be looked after by staff in the freight area while they wait to fly back to Guangyuan with Du on 25th June.

Most Chinese animal rights groups had decided on a boycott of Yulin, refusing to go there to buy dogs. Du said that she would only be going to Yulin to protest and hand in the letter and report to the party secretary but when faced with dogs, looking at her with desperate pleas, she could not leave them there to be tortured. While she couldn't save the mother dog earlier, one of the dogs she did rescue is heavily pregnant. That dog will now give birth while she and her puppies are safe and loved. Their story could have been very different.

We understand that buying dogs is not the answer, that it fuels the fire but until the Chinese government implements a law to protect animals from this heartless trade of dogs and cats for their meat, we will try our best to save as many as we can.

Du expects others to condemn the way she has rescued these dogs but, in her words, she says "Do what you have to; walk your own path no matter what others say".

6 dogs does not sound like a lot but for these dogs it means everything. Your donations helped to buy these dogs their lives. Their rehabilitation starts when they arrive at our shelter. They have cuts and bruises and some are depressed, unable to look at Du properly. Who can blame them after what they have seen?
Your support has been vital in saving lives. It will also help to keep their nightmares at bay. Thank you❤

25th June - evening

This evening Du will fly with the 6 rescued dogs back to Chengdu airport and then on to Guangyuan. The dogs will be checked over and given necessary vaccinations and medicines to help heal their broken bodies and spirits. The dogs are in the flight crates ready to take off. Thank you to all of you who donated and shared our posts. 

​The rescue of the dogs is the 'easy' part. The long term rehabilitation to help rid the dogs of their nightmares will begin tonight.

25th June - night

Du's flight landed safely in Chengdu and thanks goes to two of our volunteers who drove nearly 4 hours from Guangyuan to help Du unload the crates from the airport freight terminal. One of them made sure each dog had a drink and cleaned the crates while the other gave each dog a short walk to stretch their legs.  Then it was back in to their clean crates and the journey back to Guangyuan. Du will not put these dogs in the main shelter yet, they will be kept in the apartment block where she lives and where she can look out for them, administer needed medicines and vaccines and so that she can reassure them. 

26 June

Du and our volunteers reached the apartment block in the early hours. The dogs were let out of their flight crates, given a meal and water and left to get used to there surroundings.
As the sun rose, Du and another of our volunteers Xin He along with our bank manager friend and volunteer
Mr Wang began to treat each dog in turn. All are full of fleas and ticks. They all had cuts and small wounds which were cleaned and treated with antiseptic solution. They were also vaccinated.
The pregnant dog is too scared, she has not left her flight crate so Du and volunteers are leaving her alone until she realises that she is safe and comes out of the cage on her own.
The German Shepherd had a collar on. Obviously someone's stolen pet. So many times we have heard dog meat butchers say that dogs are not stolen pets. What a lie!
Now safe, these dogs will need to be rehabilitated. Once settled in they will also be neutered. You have helped a lot by donating to help these dogs but please could we ask if you can help once more by donating to help with these costs? Your support has been amazing and we thank you very much!

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UPDATE-
The pregnant dog, rescued during the Yulin Dog Meat Festival has not been eating much and has been vomiting and passing bloody stools. Du has named her Bai Niu. She has also been passing a bloody discharge, the after effects of a miscarriage so somewhere on her journey to Yulin, squashed in a chicken cage, her poor body aborted a new life/lives in her.
Another of the rescued dogs, now named Mao Niu has also been vomiting and passing bloody stools so Du took them to the pet hospital for tests. The results showed they are suffering from viral gastroenteritis. They are being given rehydration and electrolye balance medication. A surprise pregnancy was confirmed for Mao Niu! How lucky will all these puppies be when they are born?! They would have been killed and eaten if we hadn't rescued their moms!
The good news is that all of the rescued dogs have tested negative for Canine Distemper and Parvovirus.
Their rehabilitation is thanks to you. Your donations buy essential medicines and pay vet bills so it is greatly appreciated at this time.


Edit-

Unfortunately not long after telling you that none of the dogs had Canine Distemper or Canine Parvo Virus the dogs began to show signs and eventually tested positive for Canine Distemper Virus. They will continue to be cared for and treated to help them overcome this hurdle.