The Yulin Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China is a gruesome celebration of the summer solstice where thousands of dogs are beaten, slaughtered and eaten by people who believe consuming dog meat on this day will bring good luck. Participants claim the Yulin Dog Meat festival is a local “tradition,” but that’s not true. The festival didn’t start until 2009, and was only created to boost profits for China’s ruthless dog meat traders.

Many of the dogs are stolen from their loving families, crammed into tiny metal cages and trucked for days to Yulin with no food or water. Often, the dogs are still wearing their collars as they sit in markets and slaughterhouses awaiting their death. The dogs are tortured before slaughter in the belief that this makes the meat taste better.

Sadly, the Yulin Dog Meat Festival represents just a tiny fraction of China's brutal dog and cat meat industry, which claims the lives of approximately 10 million dogs and 4 million cats each year.

Activists around the world -- including many in China -- are outraged by this cruelty and are working to end the dog and cat meat trade. If enough of us speak out, we can make a difference.

Please add your voice! Sign the petition urging an end to the Yulin Dog Meat Festival and a ban on dog and cat meat in China.