Yulin Dog Meat Festival
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The Yulin Dog Meat Festival is an annual celebration held in the city of Yulin, China. The festival is held during the mid-year solstice (21st-30th June) and involves the mass slaughter of dogs for public consumption. While the Chinese have a history of eating dog meat, the festival was only established in 2010.
The Yulin Dog Meat Festival has drawn the ire of animal rights activists due to the cruel treatment of the dogs in question. They're stuffed into tiny cages with several other dogs and paraded through the city before being tortured to death. Reports show that several dogs have been shown wearing collars, leading to speculation that they were abducted. It's estimated that tens of thousands of dogs are killed during the festival.
While the Yulin Dog Meat Festival is abhorred by many, several radical vegans have called the outcry hypocritical, as just about every country has some account of animal cruelty and most of the world's population eats meat, which makes the mourning of dogs a double standard. They've even gone as far as to claim that this is a racist conspiracy, as several Western customs such as bull-fighting aren't given as much publicity (it should be noted that several animal activists do care about both, one example being comedian Ricky Gervais, who famously called an underage bullfighter a "little cunt"). It should be noted that while there are some unethical conditions being imposed upon Western livestock, steps are being taken for improvement. There also happen to be plenty of obstacles such as a growing demand for Halal meat (which involves bleeding the animal to death while it's still conscious) and Chinese investors buying farmland and slaughterhouses.
Despite the festival's popularity, some locals do oppose it. One example being retired school teacher Yang Xiaoyun, who managed to buy 360 dogs in 2014 and 10 more in 2015.
Many petitions had called for the end of the practice such as this petition.