China to ban sale of dog meat ahead of annual dog meat festival

Vendors wait for customers to buy dogs for slaughter at a market in Yulin in June 2015. The city holds an annual festival devoted to the animal's meat on the summer solstice. Photo: AFP.

BEIJING: Chinese officials are set to ban the sale of dog meat at the annual Yulin festival, according to China-based activists.

The Humane Society International (HSI) and advocacy group Duo Duo Animal Welfare Project say the southwestern city is poised “to prohibit restaurants, street vendors and market traders from selling dog meat at the event”.