HERO OF THE DOGS!

     Originally, I was going to back to writing about teacher-student sex since there was a story out of Jersey City, NJ that really tickled my fancy, but as I read the story, it was the same old, same old! Married female teacher lures teenage female student to her house where they performed oral sex on each other. Haven't we heard that story before? Besides, I felt this story was much more appealing and worldly. 

     So, last week, I saw a petition floating around to stop some sort of dog meat festival in China. Being of Chinese descent, I kind of didn't want to believe this was true, but I am also a dog lover, so I signed this petition, but it seems this past weekend, the festival still went on. There was, however, a hero in the bunch! A retired school teacher and animal advocate saved the lives of 100 dogs on Saturday after she paid about $1,100 to save them from the annual dog meat festival in the southern Chinese city of Yulin. Let me start by saying, since I am of Chinese descent, I have never eaten dog meat to my knowledge. That is an incredibly disgusting tradition back in the motherland and growing up, I was a little embarrassed to know about it. I used to push it on the Vietnamese culture. 

     Anyway, 65-year-old Yang Xiaoyun traveled about 1,500 miles from her home in the city of Tianjin to secure the dogs. Yang has been rescuing animals since 1995, when she pulled an abandoned kitten from a river. In 1999, she founded a dog and cat sanctuary known as the "Common Home for All." She's taken in hundreds of animals and has even sold her home. She prepares meals for the animals and calls them her "children." Her shelter now houses almost 1,500 dogs and 200 cats. Well, I guess I found the Chinese equivalent to my wife. 

     Yang's selfless act in Yulin comes as international observers and activists continue to draw attention to the city's dog meat festival. According to Peter Li, a China policy specialist at the Humane Society International and associate professor at the University of Houston-Downtown, dog meat consumption does have a historical precedent in China, but the Yulin festival only dates back to 2009. About 10,000 dogs are killed each year for the Yulin festival, which coincides with the summer solstice. Some of the dogs that arrive in the city even have collars indicating  that they might be stolen pets. This is absolutely horrendous!

     Actor and animal advocate Ricky Gervais condemned the festival and said footage he saw from past years broke his heart. He said in a statement, "I will never forget the look of bewilderment and fear on the faces of these poor animals. The dogs and cats await a horrible fate. No animal deserves to be treated like this." He's absolutely right!

     Yang reportedly wants to open another dog sanctuary in Yulin. I would try to keep as many dogs out of Yulin as possible, those cannibals! Dogs are almost human-like when it comes to feelings. For people to even eat dog, you might as well eat a human too. It's times like this I am embarrassed by my Chinese heritage, but I can proudly say my family has never taken part in any of these traditions. I have aunts and uncles who had dogs and cats as pets. They definitely did not keep them around for food. Good for Miss Yang for standing her ground and saving at least 100 of these puppies!