Yulin local joke

There is a custom of eating dog meat in Yulin, Guangxi. Every summer solstice, local people are used to getting together to eat dog meat and drink fresh litchi. However, for animal protectionists, it is cruel to kill dogs and eat dog meat. Defenders of folk customs and animal protectionists, behind this battle of eating dogs and loving dogs, are actually conflicts of different cultural values. Objectively speaking:

On the one hand, whether or not the "dog meat festival" is advocated, this traditional festival has become a local culture in Yulin, reflecting the prevailing local food culture in Yulin, paying attention to the taste and nutrition of dishes, and at the same time paying great attention to the innovation under the tradition. For this reason, litchi dog meat is also an innovation under the tradition. Moreover, eating dog meat is a tradition and reality in China, which is recorded in many famous ancient books and celebrity records, such as Compendium of Materia Medica and so on.

On the other hand, dog lovers have the right to express their opinions, but they must keep legal boundaries. Just because they love dogs, we can't think that people who eat dog meat are enemies and sinners, let alone think that they have occupied the moral high ground and killed people who eat dog meat with one stick. It can be seen that the idea of protecting animals is not to resist eating certain animals, but to advocate that human beings should make rational use of them to meet human development under the condition of natural balance and sustainable development. In the field of animal protection, we should oppose cruelty to animals, advocate rational and civilized utilization, and maintain the harmony between man and nature. Otherwise, the "favoritism" of animal rights protection organizations will not be conducive to guiding human understanding of animal protection, but will increase personal conflicts of interest in different regions or different nationalities.

Therefore, only by being kind to others can we be tolerant. Animal rights protectors should advocate the concept of "animal protection, harmony between man and nature" on the premise of observing the laws, customs, historical traditions and national beliefs of various countries and regions, and do not blindly resist which animals should be eaten and which animals should not be eaten. On the other hand, Yulin is also changing. The word "dog" in the dog meat restaurant is gone, and eating dog meat is not so big. It may be a long way from not eating dog meat at all, but the distance must be shortening. Negotiation is the art of compromise between the two sides. Only when the two sides compromise can we move forward together and win-win.