Chinese residents have started slaughtering and eating dogs to celebrate the summer solstice early in an effort to avoid being the target of animal rights protests.

Residents of the city of Yulin began gathering and eating dog meat and lychees last weekend to celebrate the summer solstice. The longest day of the year is set to take place this Saturday, according to a state media report cited by Daily Mail.

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In recent years, the dog-eating festival has been the target of social media campaigns by animal rights activists and online petitions against the tradition. The local citizens wanted to avoid all the negative attention that came with the event.

The public upheaval demonstrates the increasing change in the financial status and opinions on local traditions of the ordinary Chinese. Nowadays, many of them already keep pets, travel abroad, and question some of their oldest practices.

State media published photos of Yulin residents serving meat, vegetables, and lychees on dining tables. Some photos of skinned and cooked dogs being displayed, hung from hooks, and piled on tables, have also been widely circulated on Chinese microblogging platforms.

According to the Yulin tradition, eating dog meet with lychee and downing liquor on the summer solstice keeps people healthy throughout the winter.

Animal rights activists, on the other hand, say that the festival poses a health risk because the dogs being eaten have not gone through quarantine and disease screening. Some are even grabbed from the streets and stolen from their owners. They also say toxic chemicals are used to poison the dogs.

Meanwhile, the government of Yulin has detached itself from the dog-eating festival, saying it has not officially endorsed the event. Restaurants have reportedly been told to remove any reference to dog meat from their signboards and menus. However, the sale and consumption of dog meat has not yet been banned in China.

The government denies the formal existence of the summer solstice celebration. It only said the feast is just a culinary habit of some people and businesses in the country.

In 2011, a dog meat festival in Zhejiang province was cancelled because of public pressure.

TagsDog-eating festival, Summer solstice, date, early, animal rights, dog meat