[SOUND]
We're just stir frying this ginger.
Oh, and there comes a lot of dog meat.
[MUSIC]
Facing a PR nightmare this year, the city government has retracted it's support of
the festival claiming the holiday barely even exists.
And they clearly don't want any fuss being made
because before the protest even started,
the square was full of thugs who might well have been hired to disrupt the event.
In China, unsanctioned protests are still illegal and
animal rights activists are risking arrest simply for demonstrating.
[MUSIC]
>> [FOREIGN].
>> [FOREIGN]
[FOREIGN].
>> So it's a very nervous atmosphere at the moment.
>> [FOREIGN].
>> With no government officials showing up and
little progress in the heated shouting match the protest is dissolved.
[MUSIC]
Ultimately, I wanted to see if a dog meat festival is as
really heart breaking it sounds.
We've been invited to celebrate the festival with a local family who were
probably a little weirded out that their traditional party had drawn such deep
condemnation from across China and abroad.
So we've come to a village just outside of Yilin.
Feels very relaxed compared to the city.
I feel like I just stepped back in time a bit
[MUSIC]
This guy here belongs to the neighbors.
They brought it along just in case there wasn't enough meat
to feed the hundred guests.
[NOISE].
>> [FOREIGN].
>> [FOREIGN]
>> The dog's been in this guy's family for the last five or six years.
So, he doesn't want it to die because he quite likes the dog.
But when I asked him if he was gonna eat dog today he was like, yeah.
[LAUGH]
[SOUND]
>> [FOREIGN].
>> I'm seeing four dead dogs inside boxes.
>> [NOISE]
[NOISE]
>> [FOREIGN]
[SOUND]
>> Oh, sorry, It's really hard cuz there's a lot of family watching.
So, I don't wanna look too weird, but basically they're cleaning the head.
They're cutting the head open and
taking the meat out of the, like, cheeks of the dog's head.
Quite clear that nothing is going to waste here, which I guess is a good thing.
I mean, if you're gonna cook a dog, you may as well eat the entirety of it.
Definitely, definitely seems like that's happening.
[SOUND]
Oh my God, they're even saving the tongue.
So we've got three different types of dog, dog coming along.
One of them is being deep fried.
This one is being stewed.
And we can go and take a look at this one.
[FOREIGN]
[FOREIGN].
>> [FOREIGN].
>> [FOREIGN]
[SOUND]
>> So, we're gonna add a bit of ginger.
[FOREIGN]
[COUGH]
[SOUND]
So, these are the spices that they use.
It's dog spice.
So specifically designed for cooking dog meat.
Inside we've got like dried tangerine peel,
we've got some bay leaf a bit of anise and a bit of cloves.
So, oh and some spice as well.
So yeah all sorts of flavors going there.
Quite strong flavors actually.
They said that's partly to disguise the smell of
like a slightly fishy fragrance that comes out of it.
So, for some reason I'm not so freaked out anymore.
I feel like, okay the dogs are dead.
It's just piles and piles of meat, which I can handle.
[MUSIC]
The vibe was actually nicer than you'd imagine.
Everyone was getting pissed on lychee liquor and crates of beer
[MUSIC] Well,
thankfully the neighbors dog is spared from going in the pot.
[MUSIC]
Looks like maybe a quarter of the dog.
I'm just psyching myself up.
I've got every single person's eyes looking at me here.
I, I feel like I'd be incredibly rude if refused, and what the hell?
When in rain.
>> [FOREIGN].
[FOREIGN].
>> [FOREIGN].
>> Oh, okay.
[LAUGH].
>> [FOREIGN].
>> Okay, one at a time.
[LAUGH]
>> [FOREIGN]
>> yeah, I mean.
>> [FOREIGN]. >> Okay, oh my God.
Fuck it.
>> [FOREIGN].
>> It's kind of a little bit like beef or lamb, that kind of texture.
Although I have to say, it's, it's kind of that,
distinct smell that is kind of lurking in my mouth still.
Alarm bells are going off in my head saying, I just ate that dog,
I just ate that dog, I just ate that dog.
[LAUGH].
>> [FOREIGN].
[MUSIC]
>> Obviously, squeamishness aside, eating dog isn't really that different from
eating any other animal with four legs and two eyes.
But frankly, the idea of slaughtering dogs that spent their last days in
cages still bums me out, which is why I'm
happy that there are some people out here who will do anything to save them.
The next morning we caught up with an activist who's just saved a whole
bunch of them.
She's called the Oskar Schindler of the dog trade.
[FOREIGN].
>> [FOREIGN].
>> Oh my God!
Do you recognize that dog?
That was the dog that I saw yesterday that was supposed to go to the chop.
>> [FOREIGN].
>> [FOREIGN]
[MUSIC]
>> It's come as no surprise that the dogs sold in Yulin are often kept in
cramped conditions and treated no better than any other animal raised for meat.
I really don't think I'll be eating dog again, but it's easy to see why
the people who celebrate the festival don't want to give up their tradition.
The thing is, though dogs are dogs.
They're Lassie and they're Snowy and they're both Lady and
the Tramp, which is why frustratingly for the dog traders,
I really can't see the planet ever letting this festival pass without an outrage.
[MUSIC]