BREAKING: After 22 Years, Major Dog Meat Producer Pulls the Plug

Peixian FanKuai Dog Meat Products Company's product packaging features 狗, the Chinese character for “dog.”

A company that spent over two decades promoting dog meat as a local specialty has officially cancelled its food production license. After 22 years of business, Peixian FanKuai Dog Meat Products Company is no longer licensed to produce the dog meat products it once sold in local stores and airport gift shops.

This is not the end of China’s dog meat trade. But it is a development that deserves attention.

For 22 years, Peixian FanKuai Dog Meat Products Company built its business around dog meat, even promoting the product as part of local tradition. Its packaging prominently featured 狗 the Chinese character for “dog.”

And for years, local Chinese animal advocates pushed back.

They questioned the company’s compliance with food-safety and animal-quarantine requirements. They filed complaints, sought information through government disclosure procedures, submitted administrative reviews, and painstakingly gathered evidence.

The response from the company, and even local authorities, was a familiar one for advocates working to end the dog and cat meat trade. If something is not explicitly prohibited by law, they argued, it is permitted. China does not yet have any laws specifically banning the dog meat trade.

Dog meat from Peixian FanKuai Dog Meat Products Company lining the shelves at a grocery store.

Peixian FanKuai Dog Meat Products Company had operated for 22 years without conducting dog quarantines, obtaining certificates of origin for the dogs, or securing a dog slaughtering permit.

Now, the company has cancelled its food production license.

Our sources tell us that, in addition to the massive social media backlash and sustained pressure from activists, they believe another major factor is that Peixian FanKuai Dog Meat Products Company's business has gone downhill in recent years and is no longer profitable.

22 years of pressure has finally produced a result.

There was no dramatic raid. No overnight victory. Instead, there were many years of persistence by local activists who refused to let the issue disappear.

Complaint after complaint, document after document, information requests, administrative reviews, follow-ups, more evidence gathering, more waiting.

Dog meat gift bags from Peixian FanKuai Dog Meat Products Company.

This is what change often looks like before anyone notices it.

And today, a company that once invoked tradition and protection of local culture to defend its cruel business has officially ended its production phase.

But we need to be clear about what this does, and does not, mean.

Cancelling a food production license does not make dog meat consumption disappear. It does not guarantee that the company cannot seek another license elsewhere. And it does not prevent the dog meat trade from moving into less visible or illicit channels.

The real fight is bigger. To end the dog and cat meat trade for good, we must change hearts and minds.

That is why Duo Duo Project has been working in China since 2013, not for a few weeks or during a single controversial event, but 365 days a year.

The founder of Peixian FanKuai Dog Meat Products Company defends dog meat as an important part of Chinese culture during a television interview.

Over the past 13 years:

• We are reducing demand through culturally conscious education and advocacy.

• We are reducing the supply of vulnerable animals through humane spay and neuter initiatives.

• And we are supporting the Chinese activists who are leading this change from within their own communities.

From the recent changes we have documented in Yulin to this company’s withdrawal after 22 years, something is happening.

The old status quo is being challenged. And after more than 13 years of working toward this moment, we here at Duo Duo Project believe we may be getting closer to the tipping point.

To every Chinese activist who kept pushing when progress seemed painfully slow: thank you.

To every volunteer who gathered evidence, filed complaints, waited for answers, and refused to give up: thank you.

And to everyone who has supported Duo Duo Project since 2013: you have helped make it possible for us to stand alongside them for the long haul.

Because ending the dog and cat meat trade will not happen with one business closure. It will happen when enough hearts and minds have changed that there is no longer a market for it. And that day may be closer than we think.

Thank you for believing in and supporting our crucially important education programs. Many hearts and minds have already been changed, and we are building a more compassionate future because of your generosity.

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