Time to view dog meat issue differently

Litchi and dog meat is the unlikely favorite combo of people in Yulin, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on summer solstice. In fact, the local catering industry has been using the combo to promote the summer solstice "festival" since the late 1990s, claiming ancient herbal medicine books say that eating litchi and dog meat together can help people overcome the negative effects of the hot and humid weather.

For the past few years, animal rights activists, both from home and abroad, have been urging people to boycott the "festival", their main objection being against the mass slaughter of dogs. But those who love dog meat say the "festival" is part of local tradition. The Yulin local government, on its part, has decided not to interfere in the issue, because it is a civil matter.

The difference between humans and other animals is that humans always want more than they need to sustain their lives. The number of animal species (not to speak of plant species) that has become extinct in the past 200 years is perhaps more than the total number of people criticizing Yulin residents for eating dog meat, but surprisingly these critics have had nothing to say about the great loss.