Experts: Dog meat festival 'illegal'

專家稱：狗肉節“不合法”

Judicial experts and animal specialists have said an upcoming festival that serves dog meat in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region is illegal.

一些司法專家及動物學者們聲稱廣西壯族自治區即將到來的狗肉節是不合法的。

More than 40 specialists, including law professors, lawyers and animal rights activists, signed an agreement to shut down the festival on Friday, saying such a “tradition” will affect China's image overseas and should be banned.

40多個專家，包括法律專家、律師及動物權利保護者簽署了一個協議聲明，要求取消在周五取消狗肉節，并聲稱這樣的“傳統”會影響中國在海外的形象應該被禁止。

The annual festival, slated for June 21 in Yulin, celebrates a local tradition of eating dog meat hotpot and lychees and drinking strong liquor on the summer solstice.

在玉林每年6月21日這一天人們會吃狗肉火鍋、吃荔枝、喝烈酒來慶祝夏至節。

But the festival has been shrouded in controversy since it was exposed on the Internet early this month. Some lawyers and animal rights associations even came to the city to investigate.

然而自從本月初這個節日被曝網上之后就飽受爭議。一些律師和動物保護者協會就來到該市進行調查。

Li Weimin, a lawyer from Weibo Law Firm, went to the city twice over the past two weeks and said he found that most of the dog meat that is to be served at the festival is from the black market.

李偉民（音譯），一名來自微博法律團的律師，在過去的兩周內去過玉林兩次，他發現狗肉節上的大部分狗肉都來源自黑市。

“I was told there are four major workshops that produce dog meat in the city. I visited them and found all of them had no business licenses or certificates,” Li said, adding he believed the meat made in such places was unhealthy.

“我被告知該城市有四大生產狗肉的作坊。我參觀了這些地方發現他們都沒有經營許可證，”李先生說道，他補充道在這樣的地方加工的肉類一定很不健康。

The decision to eat the dog meat depends on the individual but trades related to dog meat are illegal according to current Chinese laws, Li said.

李先生還說道，是否決定吃狗肉都取決于個人，但是依據中國現行的法律來看有關狗肉的相關交易是非法的。

An Xiang, an animal rights lawyer in Beijing, said there are no dog farms or legal slaughter houses in China. The dogs for the festival are raised in households, abducted from the streets, or even poisoned, An said.

安翔（音譯），一名北京的動物維權律師說道，中國沒有肉狗養殖場或是合法的屠宰場。狗肉節上的狗肉來自家養、街上的狗還有的甚至是被毒死的。

The Ministry of Agriculture issued a quarantine regulation on dogs and cats last year, requiring laboratory quarantine for the animals before they are transported.

去年農業局還發表過關于貓狗的安全檢疫監管，要求動物只有通過安全檢疫所的檢查才能允許運輸。

“But it's rare to see such quarantine places in our country, and similar rules are still not enough,” he added.

他還說，“但是在我們的國家很少見到這種檢疫所，相似的條例也不夠。”

The Yulin government said it would show a quarantine certificate, but they haven't shown it yet, an animal rights expert, said.

一名動物權利專家說玉林當地政府曾表示會出示檢疫證明，但是至今未有消息。

Instead, the government has put a logo for the festival on the city's streets, adding the authority might realize advertising the festival in such a way is not sensible.

相反地，當地政府還在該城市街道上鋪設了狗肉節的圖案標志。當局應該認識到這種做法是不明智的。

However, Cao Mingde, a law professor from China University of Political Science and Law, said he was pessimistic about restricting residents from eating dog meat and that he doubted an animal protection law could be established within three years.

然而，曹明德（音譯）一名來自中國政法大學的法律教授不太看好禁止居民吃狗肉的實施，他也懷疑三年內是否能建立動物保護法。