This LATimes story highlights a growing animal rights movement in China.
LATimes — A 6-century-old tradition of dog eating collided this week with modern concepts about animal rights, and this time, modernity won.
Local authorities canceled a three-day festival that had been planned for Oct. 18 in Jinhua City, Zhejiang province, after tens of thousands of people who organized over the Internet complained.
The festival was part of a local tradition dating back to 1389, when legend has it that a Ming dynasty military hero who was trying to capture Jinhua decided to kill all the dogs so they wouldn’t bark at night and disrupt his invasion.
In April of this year, dog-saving activists essentially highjacked a truck that was carrying 500 dogs to a slaughterhouse, and did so right in the middle of a highway.
Of course measures to curb beef and pork consumption would be substantially more environmentally meaningful, but we know how politically difficult that discussion would be anywhere on the planet. Regardless, it is worth considering the extent to which these animal rights actions in China might correspond to environmental protection both currently and in the future.
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