Quotable

"The dispute over eating dog meat actually shows the conflicts between folk customs and animal protection. It's every citizen's responsibility to protect the animals, but the dietary needs of every people should be respected as well."

Zhou Xiaozheng, a professor of sociology at Renmin University of China, said as a festival featuring dog meat in Yulin, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, approaches. The annual festival falls on June 21. Animal protection groups said more than 10,000 dogs are slaughtered at the festival and have appealed to have the annual event ended.