A brief list of countries which eat dog meat the most

China's annual Yulin festival, in which thousands of dogs and cats are killed and eaten, has begun.

Despite widespread international condemnation, an estimated 10,000 animals will be consumed over the next 10 days in the Guangxi province in the country's South-East.

The festival is not traditional - it was invented by dog traders in 2010 to boost profits, and while thousands of dogs die every year at Yulin, the Humane Society say an estimated 30 million more are killed across Asia for their meat each year.

A petition to shut down the festival has raised 2.5 million signatures, and there is evidence that the dog meat trade contributes to the spread of rabies and the risk of cholera.

Here's a run down of the countries that contribute the most to the dog meat trade.

Countries around the world where there is evidence of a culture of dog meat consumption

China

The Humane Society estimate that some 10-20 million are killed every year in China.

This makes the country the primary contributor to the dog meat trade.

However, a recent poll conducted by Horizon, commissioned by the China Animal Welfare Association, found that most Chinese citizens want the Yulin festival to end.

South Korea

The average figure for slaughtered dogs in South Korea is around 2.5 million per year (2.95 million in 2002, 2.31 million in 2005).

In 1998 there were 6,484 registered dog meat restaurants, while some estimate around 20,000.

Attitudes to dog meat consumption are variable and inconclusive depending on which survey you look at, but a recent Ministry of Agriculture survey found 59 per cent of under 30s would not eat dog.

Vietnam

The Asia Canine Protection Alliance in 2014 secured a five-year moratorium on cross border transport of dogs for the dog meat trade, however conservative estimates suggest more than 80,000 dogs are smuggled yearly to supply demand for dog meat in the country, from Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

Taiwan

The government has passed legislation banning the practice, however there remains an underground practice which supplies strays to restaurants and meat traders.

Other countries

Alongside these countries there are reports of trade and consumption in India, Indonesia and the Philippines.

While the Philippines has passed laws against trading and eating dog meat, these are not commonly enforced.

There have also been reports in the Tages Anzeiger, a Swiss newspaper, of farmers in the Appenzell and St Gallen regions supplying dog meat to workers and friends.

The practice has not occurred on a commercial scale, to the best of our knowledge, however there is a small culture of it in the Rhine Valley, severely criticised by animal rights activists.

Note: These are just a handful of the countries where the practice of eating dog meat is most prominent - to our knowledge there's no comprehensive data available on the consumption of dog meat worldwide, as such this article should only be read as a shortlist.

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