THECOCONUTWHISPERER : Annual Chinese Dog Meat Eating Festival Starts

EXCLUSIVE: 'Nobody knows how horrific it is': Race is on to rescue animals from annual Chinese dog-eating festival where pets are stolen from owners then tortured to death because their heightened adrenaline 'improves the meat'

An estimated 10,000 dogs are killed and eaten each year at the Yulin Lychee and Dog Festival in southern China
Before they are killed they are often clubbed, boiled or skinned alive in the belief that adrenalin levels increased by the torture makes the meat taste better
Animal activists in Los Angeles try to rescue as many of the animals as possible, but it is only a drop in the bucket compared to the number that meet their deaths

Animal rights groups are preparing to rescue dozens of dogs from a barbaric 'festival' in China where pets are not only eaten but tortured first because raised adrenaline levels allegedly 'heighten a man's sexual prowess.'

Thousands of dogs are rounded up every year and sent to the 10-day Yulin Lychee and Dog Meat Festival in southern China. It is due to kick off on Wednesday.

Estimates are that 10,000 dogs are eaten – with lychees – each year.

'Nobody knows how horrific it is. I've been there,' Los Angeles animal advocate Bobi Leonard who has traveled to China multiple times told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.

'There are a lot of people there who are against it,' added Leonard, a skin-care expert who donates 20% of her profits to animal charities. 'They are advocates that really fight.'

Thousands of dogs, both stray and pets, are snatched off the streets or stolen from families, and then crammed into tiny wire cages where they are then transported across China to Yulin

Dog bodies are put on display for sale at a market ahead the 2014 Yulin Dog Eating Festival

A woman eats dog meat and lychees at the 2015 festival. Many Chinese believe consuming the meat over the Summer Solstice brings extra good luck and wards off the summer heat

Marc Ching traveled to China to rescue dogs at the festival. He had to pretend he was a restaurant owner who was going to serve the pets as food

Eating dogs is common in China and some other parts of Asia and has been for hundreds of years, but owners who have adopted rescued dogs say what happens every year in Yulin is truly horrifying.

The dogs are tormented in the most unspeakable ways before being killed with the belief that the heightened adrenaline released due to the pain improves the quality of the meat, Sheena Gao a board member of the Animals Hope and Wellness Foundation, which has shelters in both China and Los Angeles, explained.

Festival goers also believe this 'improved' meat increases male sexual performance, wards off disease and provides good fortune.

'The dogs are torched, clubbed, boiled alive, skinned alive. It's absolutely horrific,' said Gao, who along with composer Rayko spearheaded a June 11 fundraiser at the Rafi Lounge in Malibu hosted by the groups Yoga Stops Yulin and In Defense of Animals.

Thousands of dogs, both stray and pets, are snatched off the streets or stolen from families, and then crammed into tiny wire cages where they are then transported across China to Yulin in preparation for the festival, said Gao.

'The dogs and cats in these trucks go for days without food or water and when they arrive they are extremely sick or injured,' said Gao. 'Our ultimate goal is to put an end to the horrific Yulin Dog Meat Festival.'

There are still a lot of people in China – let alone in America – who are unaware of the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, something Susan Praver hopes to change.

Praver adopted Chinglee, her 7-year-old part-Samoyed part-American Eskimo, in 2017 after reading online about rescuing dogs from China.

'When I was reading about this I freaked out and knew I had to do something. I needed to get involved. I couldn't even sleep thinking about this,' said the luxury real estate agent.

'It's not just that they eat the dog, they feel the more they torture the dog, the better the meat.'

'I saw a photo of my dog online. He was all dirty and bloody. They were going to hang him until a wonderful person named Marc Ching, whom my dog is named after, stepped in and saved him.

'He was buying the dogs at the festival by pretending to be a restaurant owner.'

A pioneer in bringing awareness to the infamous festival, Ching founded Animal Hope & Wellness and has gone on to save tens of thousands of dogs.

'Nobody knows how horrific it is. I've been there,' said Bobi Leonard holding her new pug Josephina, rescued from China.

Amber Doughty adopted her 7-year-old Chow/Shiba Inu mix from Animal Hope the & Wellness, a rescue group that brings dogs from China. 'Griffin is my child, my fur baby,' said Doughty

Anya McGrath adopted 6-year-old Mira, a Chinese Village Dog, in 2020 from the Animal Hope & Wellness Foundation in Los Angeles after she was rescued while en route to the Yulin Dog Meat Festival

Mira stretches out on a yoga mat at the Malibu fundraiser. 'She was really skinny and really timid. When I got her, you could tell she had been nursing. We don't know what happened to her puppies,' said McGrath.

'It's not just that they eat the dog, they feel the more they torture the dog, the better the meat,' said luxury real estate agent Susan Praver, pictured with her dog Chinglee

'The majority of people in China who know about this festival are opposed to it. And then there are those that don't even know it exists, which is why social media and spreading the word is so vital,' Praver added.

While some may argue the subject matter is too gruesome, Amber Doughty explained that a person doesn't have to look at the photos and videos in order to support the cause.

'I am more comfortable reading about it because I can't see the visuals. It's just too heartbreaking,' said Doughty who adopted her 7-year-old Chow/Shiba Inu mix from a rescue group that brings dogs back from China.

'I saw him and I was like I have to meet him. You just know. When I took him to the vet, they found grooves in his gums so he was probably gnawing at a fence trying to get out. He is missing some teeth, said Doughty.

'Griffin is my child, my fur baby,' added Doughty who agrees that awareness is the first step towards a solution. '

'More people need to know about this. It can't be ignored. When I bring up the subject, some people say stop, I don't want to hear about it.

'But not hearing about it doesn't mean it's not happening,' Doughty reasoned. 'I want to be the voice for the voiceless.'

Anya McGrath adopted 6-year-old Mira, a Chinese Village Dog, in 2020 after being rescued while en route to the Yulin Dog Meat Festival.

'She was really skinny and really timid. When I got her, you could tell she had been nursing. We don't know what happened to her puppies. She seemed really sad, like melancholy,' said McGrath. 'But she is much happier now.'

McGrath, a vegan. said all animals should be protected 'If people knew what really happened to these animals, they would think differently.'

Eating dog meat in China dates back to hundreds of years. The Yulin festival is held over the Summer Solstice. The notion is that consuming the meat during this time of the year brings extra good luck and is supposed to ward off the summer heat.

Most argue that the festival is merely a marketing ploy for a lucrative business where restaurant owners and traders come to eat and buy the 'medicinal' meat.

People have been eating dog meat for centuries in China and some other parts of Asia

'More people need to know about this. It can't be ignored,' said Amber Doughty. 'When I bring up the subject, some people say stop, I don't want to hear about it. But not hearing about it doesn't mean it's not happening,'

'It feels good to rescue a dog from such a gruesome death,' said Gao. 'But we also have to realize it is only a drop in the bucket and for each dog saved, hundreds more are not'

Festival goers believe meat 'improved' by torture increases male sexual performance, wards off diseases and provides good fortune.

Contrary to this belief, dog meat has no known health benefits and after the long journey to the city of Yulin in Guangxi province, many of the dogs arrive sick with canine influenza, infections, parvo, distemper and/or parasites.

'We are seeing the younger generation in China getting more involved. When they hear about the truckloads of caged dogs and cats making their annual trek to Yulin, they do what they can to stop the trucks and rescue the animals,' said Praver. 'However more awareness is needed.'

All the people who have rescued animals that were bound for the festival recognize that they can only do so much. 'It feels good to rescue a dog from such a gruesome death,' said Gao.

'But we also have to realize it is only a drop in the bucket and for each dog saved, hundreds more are not.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12195653/Horrific-Chinese-dog-eating-festival-pets-tortured-adrenalin-makes-meat-tastier.html

Chinese puppy farms breed dogs for their meat

In recent years, support for banning cat and dog consumption has risen with pet ownership

Felicity was rescued by No To Dog Meat some time ago. She now acts as a canine 'ambassador'

pets that had been stolen with the intention they would be killed

The Yulin Dog Meat Festival, where thousands of animals are slaughtered over the hottest days of the year and eaten for a range of spurious health benefits

Some of the dogs show signs of infection, meaning they could pass diseases over to whoever ate the meat

It is believed that torturing the animals before they are eaten makes the meat tastier

Fankuai Dog Meat, a company based in eastern China, has claimed that eating dogs is a way for Chinese people to show their 'cultural confidence'.

The annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival sees thousands of dogs cruelly killed, skinned and cooked with blow-torches before being eaten by the locals. The picture shows butchered dogs at a stall in Yulin