Opposition against eating dog meat strengthens in China

A southern Chinese city kicked off its annual dog-eating festival over the weekend amid a fierce backlash by animal rights groups.

周末，一座中国南方城市在动物权利保护组织的激烈反对声中开始了其一年一度的狗肉节。

Activists estimate that about 10,000 dogs are slaughtered at the summer solstice event, in which thousands of locals and tourists consume barbecued, stir-fried and boiled dog meat served alongside lychees and grain alcohol.

抗议者估计约有1万只狗在这个夏至节日中被屠杀，节日中成千上万的当地人和游客们将烧烤、炒和煮多种做法的狗肉，伴着荔枝、白酒一起食用。

This year, social media campaigns and a strong showing by a small but dedicated band of animal rights activists have dampened the festivities in Yulin, Guangxi province.

而今年，社交媒体上的宣扬以及一帮人数不多但全力投入的动物权利保护者们的的强力表现，使得这个广西玉林的节日遭到了挫折。

The local government banned its officials from openly participating in the event, according to Carrot Chen, a spokesperson at the Hong Kong-based NGO Animals Asia. Dog meat sales were down by a third on last year, Chinese media reported.

据香港的一家非政府组织“亚洲动物协会”的发言人 Carrot Chen 所说，当地政府已经禁止了官员公开参加该活动。根据中文媒体的报道，狗肉的销量比去年下降了三分之一。

“My grandfather, my father and I all sell dog meat. I could sell dozens of dogs a day last year during this time, but I only sold a few this year,” Zhou Jian, a 55-year-old vendor, told China Daily.

一位55岁的狗肉贩周建（音）对《中国日报》说，“我的祖父，父亲和我都是卖狗肉的，去年这时候一天能卖掉几十条狗，而今年只卖掉了一点点。”

While media reports counted only a few dozen activists at the festival, their presence precipitated a handful of dramatic scenes. One vendor held a live dog from a noose, threatening to kill it unless activists paid him an exorbitant ransom. A diner sustained injuries in a fight with an activist along a restaurant-lined road.

媒体的报道只看到现场有几十个抗议者，但是他们却促成了一些戏剧性的场面。一个狗贩有套索举起一只活狗，威胁杀掉它除非抗议者们高价买下此狗。还有一位食客在小吃街上与一位抗议者打架受了伤。

Devout Buddhists from across China strolled through the city’s Dongkou wet market performing a religious rite to “console the souls of the slaughtered dogs”.

来自中国各地虔诚的佛教徒在洞口菜市场漫步，举行了一场仪式以“慰藉被屠杀的狗的灵魂”。

Many locals resent the backlash as an unwarranted moral stand against a deep rooted and technically legal tradition. They claim that eating dog meat on the summer solstice confers health benefits that last through the winter. Some held the event a week early to avoid the expected animal rights protests.

很多当地人气愤的称这些反对是给他们根深蒂固的（且严格来说合法的）传统横加了一道无理的道德标准。他们称在夏至吃狗肉带来的健康益处可以持续整个冬天。有些人为了避免动物权利者的抗议，把节日提前了一周举行。

Animal welfare groups said the dog meat trade was inhumane and unsanitary. “It’s an industry characterised by criminality, cruelty and poor hygiene,” said Animals Asia’s chief executive, Jill Robinson. “Dogs are stolen from their homes – increasingly by being darted and drugged in the street. Poisons that will find their way into the meals of the festivalgoers.”

动物权益组织说狗肉交易是不人道且不卫生的。“这是一个以非法、残忍和不卫生为特点的行业，”亚洲动物协会的行政长官 Jill Robinson 说道。“狗被人从家中偷走——越来越多的方法是在街头投毒。这些毒物最终都会进入节日参与者们的食物中。”

While dogs are still considered a delicacy in parts of southern and north-east China, they have also become popular pets among the country’s burgeoning middle class.

尽管狗在中国南方及东北的部分地区仍被视为一道美食，但在中国迅猛增长的中产阶级眼中他们也变为受欢迎的宠物。

Protesting against the festival has become a cause celebre online. “Dogs are more loyal to people than I’d imagined – I think of dogs as friends, not meat,” the actor Yang Mi wrote to her 35 million followers. The message attracted more than 75,000 comments, most commending her for taking a stand.

对于狗肉节的反对在网上成为了一个轰动事件。“狗对人的忠诚超出我想象——我将狗视为朋友而不是食物，”演员杨幂对她3500万关注者写道。该信息吸引了超过75000条评论，大多数人都赞成她的立场。

The state newswire Xinhua urged opponents of the festival to remain level-headed and remember that dogs were prized for their meat in China long before they were considered friends.

国有新闻媒体新华社呼吁节日的反对者们保持冷静，并提醒他们在中国狗被视为朋友很久之前就被人捕获作为食物。

“It might be difficult to draw a universally accepted line as to what animals should be eaten. But when there is already a vast variety of meat, maybe it is time to stop serving dog,” it said. “Maybe it’s also time to take a less strident tone against the dog-meat lovers and to educate them to see a companion rather than a meal.”

“想要绘制一条普世的标准定义什么动物可以吃恐怕是困难的。但是当我们已经有那么多食物的时候，或者该停止吃狗了，”新华社说。“或许对狗肉爱好者们的言语也该放轻一些，应该教育他们将狗视为同伴而不是食物。”