Mumbai, June 20 (IANS) Indian film fraternity members like Sonakshi Sinha, Kunal Khemmu, Anushka Sharma and Alia Bhatt have come forward to urge their fans to sign a petition asking the President of the People’s Republic of China to ban the Yulin Dog Meat Eating Festival.
Just like their Hollywood counterparts, Bollywood celebrities have come out in support of the petition on Change.org, which has requested that “the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region government must cancel the ‘Dog Meat Festival’ that is held on June 22 in Yulin”.
“As foreigners who have great respect for the Chinese people and Chinese civilization, we are saddened to learn that the Yulin ‘Dog Meat Festival’ still exists in a modern civilised society. We believe that this event has no place in the 21st century,” the petition reads.
Indian celebrities have taken to social networking platforms to raise their voices against the festival, which involves beating, boiling and burning dogs alive.
“This has GOT to STOP!! Share, RT, create awareness and sign the petition. #StopYuLin2015,” Sonakshi tweeted.
Anushka Sharma shared: “Animals don’t have a voice. YOU do! HELP end this CRUELTY . Sign d petition #StopYuLin2015”, while singer Anushka Manchanda tweeted: “Please sign & share this petition to stop the inhumane killing of dogs for this dog meat festival #StopYuLin2015.”
As per reports, over 10,000 dogs are killed at this festival for human consumption annually.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), a global non-profit corporation animal rights group, that undertook an Asia undercover investigation to reveal the gruesome reality of the Yulin ‘fest’ to the world, is appreciative of celebrity support to the cause of stopping the practice.
“From Bollywood to Hollywood, celebrities are speaking out against the butchering of dogs in China, leading to widespread awareness and international condemnation of this atrocity, thereby adding immense pressure on China to spare the animals’ lives and to relegate this cruel festival to the history books,” Poorva Joshipura, CEO, PETA India, told IANS.
“PETA is also asking consumers to help by choosing not to buy leather as Chinese dogs are also used to make belts, gloves and other products sold on to unsuspecting consumers around the world,” Joshipura added.
Their investigation revealed “deeply disturbing” facts about how dogs are bludgeoned to death in China so that their skin can be turned into leather gloves, belts, jacket collar trim, cat toys and other items. At the slaughterhouse, one employee told the investigator that the facility bludgeons and skins 100 to 200 dogs a day, read a description of a video on the official PETA website.