One Day of Cruelty Is One Day Too Many

The Yulin Dog Meat “Festival” lasts just one day. But the suffering behind it lasts all year. 

Trapped and terrified victims of the dog meat trade.

Every June, as global attention turns to the Yulin Dog Meat “Festival,” one question comes up again and again: How long does it actually last?

For years, misinformation has circulated claiming that the Yulin Dog Meat “Festival” spans seven or ten days. But when you ask the people who actually live and work in Yulin, the answer is clear and consistent: the festival takes place on a single day, the day of the Summer Solstice.

Watch as Yulin residents state that the Yulin Dog Meat "Festival" lasts one day.

Getting this right is important. As advocates working to end the dog and cat meat trade, we must hold ourselves to the highest standard of accuracy. When facts are overstated, it creates opportunities for critics to dismiss the movement altogether.

But let’s be equally clear about something: the fact that this event lasts one day does not make it any less cruel.

At Duo Duo Project, we are committed to being a fact-based organization because credibility is one of our most powerful tools for change.

Behind that single day is a much larger, ongoing system of suffering. Dogs and cats are captured, transported, and sold year-round to supply the meat trade. The Yulin Dog Meat “Festival” is just the most publicly visible element of a much larger black-market business.

That is why Duo Duo Project works 365 days a year, alongside local activists and community members across China, to end both the “festival” and the broader dog and cat meat trade that fuels it.

Our approach is focused, strategic, and rooted in long-term change.

First, we reduce demand through culturally conscious education and advocacy. By working with young people, supporting local voices, and promoting compassion for animals, we are helping shift attitudes from within communities.

Even one life lost to this cruelty is one too many.

Second, we reduce supply by addressing one of the root causes of the trade: the overpopulation of stray animals. Through humane spay and neuter programs, we are preventing countless dogs and cats from ever entering the pipeline of exploitation.

Our work is making a measurable difference.

When the Yulin Dog Meat “Festival” first began, an estimated 10,000 dogs were killed each year. Today, that number has dropped to approximately 3,000. While there is still much work to be done, this progress reflects a real and growing shift.

This is not a problem that can be solved overnight, but it is one that can be solved with sustained effort, local partnerships, and global support.

If you want to bring an end to the horrific Yulin Dog Meat “Festival” and the cruel dog and cat meat trade, we invite you to stand with us. Your support helps expand humane education, fund life-saving spay and neuter programs, and strengthen the local movements that are driving change from within.

Together, we can stop the Yulin Dog Meat Festival,

and the suffering behind it, for good.

Yes, I want to end the Yulin Dog Meat Festival!