ABOVE: Humane Society video shows live being sold at markets during China’s Yulin Dog Meat Festival
Activists from the Humane Society International have filmed what they claim are live dogs for sale on Monday at a market in southern China during the annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival.
The Yulin government distanced itself from the festival and announced new restrictions, but eateries reached by telephone reported brisk business during the event ostensibly held to mark the summer solstice.
Restaurant owners say eating dog meat is traditional during the summer, while animal rights activists say the festival has no cultural value and was merely invented to drum up business.
READ MORE: Chinese dog meat festival underway despite outcry
As many as 10,000 dogs, many of them stolen pets, are slaughtered for the occasion held deep in the largely rural and poor Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Celebrities such as British comedian Ricky Gervais and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen have called for an end to the festival, and more than 3 million people have signed petitions protesting it, according to Shareeza Bhola, communications manager for change.org.
Dog is eaten in some parts of China but is not a common dish. Owning dogs as pets was discouraged under early Communist Party rule but has become increasingly popular among the Chinese public, especially the urban middle class.
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