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Vegans are using this cartoon to make you think differently about meat

Picture: Neil P. Mockford/Getty
Picture: Neil P. Mockford/Getty

China’s 10-day Yulin Dog Meat Festival came into its seventh year on Tuesday and activists all over the world, including the country of its origin, are protesting the killing of what will be thousands of animals.

Last week activist Marc Ching claimed that he had freed 1,000 dogs before the festival had even begun but the so-called celebration continues to anger many.

But why do people find it so strange to eat dog meat in particular?

The following cartoon by Animal Welfare Cartoons adds a new layer to the conversation about eating meat:

The cartoon raises a serious question about what constitutes as food, and why we eat certain animals, like chickens, while condemning eating others, like dogs.

Some people are opposed to the practise because of the cruelty and lack of hygiene associated with it.

However a quick perusal of chicken battery farms shows a starkly similar environment:

Picture: Fred Tanneau/Getty

Vegan billboards have popped up all over the UK in an effort to combat the supposed double standard.

This particular billboard appeared in Glasgow, Edinburgh and most recently Manchester, and it was crowd-funded by advocacy group Go Vegan Scotland:


Picture: Go Vegan Scotland

All animals want to live, where do you draw the line?

A spokesperson for Go Vegan Scotland explained to indy100:

The only justification is our tastebuds. If that is not a sufficient justification for dog meat, why do we consider it sufficient justification for what is done to millions of other animals?

Why are we not up in arms about the lorry loads of pigs, cows and sheep we see every day on our roads, being ferried to the slaughterhouse, scared, confused, thirsty, hopeless? What is the difference? It is only habit and tradition. There is no moral difference.

There is no moral difference between what we do to animals and what the Chinese do to the dogs at Yulin.

Until we recognise that and stop our own use and abuse of animals, our voice against Yulin has no credibility.

More: A brief list of countries which eat dog meat the most

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