Campaigners of the notorious Chinese festival, a “nail in the coffin” have announced that the sale of dog meat is set to be banned.

The ban will reportedly be rolled out ahead of the ten day Lychee and Dog meat Festival in Yulin, southern China, which begins next month.

It has become a target of hate among animal groups who say up to 3,000 animals each year are killed at the event.

Image result for chinese dog meat market pics

It is unclear if the festival, where cat meat is also sold, will be able to go ahead following the new regulations, which were reported by the US-based Humane Society International and advocacy group Duo Duo Animal Welfare Project.

“The Yulin government is set to prohibit restaurants, street vendors and market traders from selling dog meat at the event,” a press release from the groups said.

Humane Society

✔@HumaneSociety

BREAKING: Dog meat sales at China’s Yulin festival likely banned for 2017. http://bit.ly/2rromFU  via @waynepacelle

6:13 PM – 17 May 2017

The groups “received reports from Chinese activists” which were “confirmed by three traders at Yulin’s biggest dog meat market”.

The decision comes with the emergence of a “compassionate” younger generation in China, Andrea Gung, executive director of Duo Duo Project, said.

A new local Communist Party boss was said to have made the ruling.

While the festival was only established seven years ago, dog meat has been consumed by humans in China and other Asian countries for centuries.

However, it is currently only eaten by a small minority of Chinese and only on rare occasions.

The animal is now widely considered a popular pet and families often lavish a huge amount of funds on their dog.

Duo Duo Project @DDAWP

Big Big news: All dog meat vendors banned from selling dog meat at Yulin summer solstice festival – AKA Yulin Dog Meat Festival 6/15 – 6/21

10:39 AM – 17 May 2017

The two campaign groups said the ban will come into affect on June 15th, six days before the festival is expected to begin.

Humane Society International organised a petition last year that was signed by 11 million people worldwide before being handed into the Chinese Embassy in London and Yulin authorities.

The group also rescued dozens of animals ahead of the 2016 event.

Peter Li, China Policy specialist at the group, said: “The Yulin dog meat festival is not over just yet, but if this news is true as we hope, it is a really big nail in the coffin for a gruesome event that has come to symbolise China’s crime-fuelled dog meat trade.”

Taiwan became the first country in Asia to ban the sale and consumption of dog and cat meat last month.

Source: The Telegraph