© Provided by AFP A Chinese animal lover consoles a dog after a convoy of trucks carrying some 500 dogs to be sold as meat, were stopped along a highway in Beijing on early April 17, 2011, and the dogs were later rescued to the China Animal Protection Association 
 
 A Chinese woman has paid over $1,000 to save 100 canines from being eaten during a dog meat festival, media said Sunday, as activists have lashed out at the event labelling it cruel. 
 
 Animal-loving Yang Xiaoyun paid about 7,000 yuan (US$1,100) to save around 100 dogs in the southern city of Yulin on Saturday, web portal Netease reported. 
 
 The city holds an annual festival devoted to the animal's meat on the summer solstice, which has provoked an increasing backlash from animal protection activists. 
 
 Reports said that Yang, 65, plans to rehouse the dogs at her home nearly 2,000 kilometres (124 miles) away in Tianjin. 
 
 Pictures posted online showed her browsing a market in Yulin where the dogs were kept in cages. 
 
 © Provided by AFP A vendor waits at a corner of a makeshift dog market in the suburb of Beijing 01 April 2001, with various mongrels in cages for sale to dog meat lovers 
 
 Activists, who say the festival is cruel, have in the past travelled to the city to hold demonstrations, sometimes buying dogs to save them from the cooking pots. 
 
 Locals have been quoted as saying that animals are killed in a humane way for the festival, where their meat is then served with lychees. 
 
 The majority of "meat dogs" in the country are stolen pets and strays, according to an investigation published this month by Hong Kong-based charity Animals Asia, though eating dog is unusual in most parts of China. 
 
 Around 30 million households in the country are estimated to keep dogs as pets, helping to fuel the growing animal rights movement. 
 
 This year the festival has been targeted by British Comedian Ricky Gervais, who posted a series of messages on Twitter with the hashtag "StopYuLin2015". 
 
 The city's government has tried to distance itself from the event. 
 
 "Some residents of Yulin have the habit of coming together to eat lychees and dog meat during the summer solstice," the city's news office wrote on Sina Weibo, a Chinese Twitter equivalent. 
 
 "The 'summer solstice lychee and dog meat festival' is a commercial term, the city has never (officially) organised a 'dog meat festival'," it added. 
 
 Eating dog is not illegal in China, but the government called on meat vendors to respect food safety laws. 
 
 "Yulin is an open, tolerant and civilised city," it said. "We welcome people across the world to pay attention to Yulin." ||||| Dog and cat meat traders at Yulin festival in China have said that business is booming, despite calls for it to close amid animal cruelty accusations. 
 
 It is expected that thousands of cats and dogs will be slaughtered this weekend to mark the summer solstice on Sunday in Yulin, washed down with lycee wine. 
 
 Government officials have ostensibly “banned” the controversial annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival after it attracted protesters and criticism from around the world. 
 
 Some readers may find the below images distressing 
 
 A woman on her moped transports more than 10 dogs, which had just been slaughtered, to her market shop for sale 
 
 However, the slaughter of cats and dogs for meat is not outlawed in China, and the local government in Yulin says it cannot stop legitimate businesses preparing meat in the run-up to this year’s solstice on 21 June. 
 
 In pictures: Yulin meat festival 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 show all In pictures: Yulin meat festival 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1/6 Yulin meat festival A man selling live dogs for meat Dog meat for sale at Dongkou Market, Yulin, Guangxi Zhuang, China (Photo by Sipa Asia/REX) 
 
 2/6 Yulin meat festival A dog vendor lifts up a dog to protest against animal rights activists coming to block the local dog meat festival (Photo: EPA/LI KE CHINA OUT) 
 
 3/6 Yulin meat festival Dog meat for sale at Dongkou Market in Yulin (Photo by Sipa Asia/REX) 
 
 4/6 Yulin meat festival Dog meat for sale at Dongkou Market, Yulin (Photo by Sipa Asia/REX ) 
 
 5/6 Yulin meat festival Dog meat for sale at Dongkou Market in Yulin (Photo by Sipa Asia/REX) 
 
 6/6 Yulin meat festival Animal rights activists in Rome try to reach the Embassy of China to protest against the Festival of Yulin, but are blocked by the police (Stefano Montesi/Demotix/Corbis) 
 
 Indeed, it has been reported that business is only getting better for the dog and cat meat traders as the controversy continues. 
 
 Celebrities including Leona Lewis and Ricky Gervais have denounced the festival this week. 
 
 A slaughterhouse butcher transfers a cat to a cage, to be handed off to Peter Li. Shortly after, Li rescued the cat from the slaughterhouse 
 
 Peter Li, animal activist group Humane Society International’s China specialist, visited the market earlier this week and reported: “I saw cat and dog intestines and carcasses strung up. 
 
 “Workers were blow-torching the carcasses to make them shiny and ready for shipment to restaurants. There were some dogs still alive in wire cages, but they looked exhausted, emaciated and dirty.” ||||| Peter Li is a China policy specialist at Humane Society International. He is also an associate professor of East Asian politics, University of Houston-Downtown. The views expressed here are solely his. 
 
 (CNN) Yulin's dog meat "festival," where some 10,000 dogs are slaughtered and served up as meals, is often wrongly assumed to be an ancient Chinese tradition. 
 
 In fact, the festival only dates back to 2009 when it was launched in the city in China's southwest to celebrate the summer solstice. 
 
 The consumption of dog meat does have historical precedence in China. 
 
 At its height during the Han Dynasty (202 - 220 AD), dog meat was considered a delicacy. 
 
 Yet, dog eating soon lost favor and by the Sui-Tang dynasties (581 -- 907 AD), dog eating had been rejected as an indecent habit. 
 
 Subsequent dynasties valued dogs as helpers and hunting buddies. 
 
 Losing battle? 
 
 In the 21st century, dog eating is facing strong criticism inside China. Three decades of economic expansion has spawned a growing army of animal lovers and pet owners believed to be 30 million strong. 
 
 Of China's estimated 130 million dogs, at least 27 million are urban pets, according to research group Euromonitor. 
 
 As more young people move into the cities, they look to companion animals for comfort in the absence of the family unit. 
 
 With their new found bond with animals, this new generation of Chinese see cats and dogs as thinking, feeling individuals deserving of compassion. Most importantly, they are friends not food. 
 
 I believe the dog meat industry is fighting a losing battle. 
 
 My own investigations and those of Chinese activists and journalists all confirm its downward spiral as the cruelty involved is exposed. 
 
 Guangzhou, a city well known for eating dogs, cats and exotic wildlife, just closed a dog meat restaurant that had been in operation for 51 years, according to local reports. 
 
 Likewise, brutal dog slaughter used to be everywhere in Beijing's suburbs less than 10 years ago, but it has now virtually disappeared. 
 
 In 2011, local authorities shut down the Jinghua Dog Meat Festival following nationwide condemnation. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Inside China's dog meat 'festival' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Inside China's dog meat 'festival' 01:23 
 
 How long can Yulin authorities remain defiant of Chinese and international public opinion? 
 
 Rabies risk 
 
 The dog meat trade is a serious threat to human health, and Chinese authorities have every reason to stand by the animal advocates. 
 
 China has the world's second highest incidence of rabies in humans. And according to China's ministry for public health , Guangxi province, where Yulin is located, has the largest number of cases in China, while Yulin is one of China's "top ten cities" for cases of human rabies. 
 
 Eating dog meat of itself does not cause rabies, but the handling and slaughter of vast numbers of unvaccinated dogs exposes the traders to a high risk of rabies infection. 
 
 Transporting the dogs to the festival is an intrinsically brutal operation. Dogs for Yulin come from as far as central and north China's Henan and Shandong, more than 1,000 miles away. 
 
 They are crammed into wire cages unable to extend their limbs, denied food and water for days during the exhausting trip. The dogs arrive at their destination malnourished and underweight, dehydrated, often dying from injuries or from being poisoned during capture. Others are already dead. 
 
 Food safety disaster 
 
 This isn't solely an animal welfare issue; it's also a food safety disaster. 
 
 China's food safety regulations ban the processing, selling and serving of products from diseased or dead animals of unknown causes. 
 
 And yet the Yulin authorities seemingly ignore these rules, allowing dog meat from unknown sources to be sold to consumers, and in so doing prioritizing the profits of dog meat traders over consumer health. 
 
 When contacted by CNN, a spokesperson for the local food and drug administration declined to answer any questions. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Dog meat festival in China sparks outrage Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Dog meat festival in China sparks outrage 03:21 
 
 The average Chinese citizen finds public dog slaughter inexcusably offensive. 
 
 Dogs are openly killed in crowded marketplaces, on the streets, and most shockingly next to elementary schools, imposing bloody and cruel practices on vulnerable members of the public. 
 
 Such public slaughter risks creating an indifferent and morally defunct society. 
 
 Beating and killing these struggling, crying dogs in full view of other terrified dogs showcases an industry that is devoid of humanity. 
 
 Additionally, the criminal activity of dog theft sustains much of the dog meat industry, with often violent confrontations between angry dog owners and the thieves. 
 
 Changing culture 
 
 Protesters gather to demonstrate against dog meat trade in China. 
 
 Opposition to dog eating is not about interfering in the food choices of dog meat eaters, nor a challenge to Chinese culture. 
 
 No culture is stagnant; it evolves and progresses. 
 
 During my most recent trip to Yulin in May, I sat down to have tea with five dog meat traders. I asked them if they wanted their children to step into their shoes. They answered a resounding "No." 
 
 Their children were ashamed of their parents' profession. The 19-year-old son of one trader asked: "Why are you doing this, out of all the jobs out there?" 
 
 It is a question resounding throughout China, and the authorities need to listen.
– Don't like the thought of dogs being served up with lychees? Neither does Yang Xiaoyun, a 65-year-old Chinese woman who saved 100 canines from being killed and served at a dog-meat festival in southern China, AFP reports. The animal lover paid about $1,100 yesterday for the dogs in the city of Yulin, and plans to take them home to Tianjin, about 1,240 miles away. Her gesture has drawn more attention to Yulin's controversial festival, where activists hold demonstrations, charge animal cruelty, and sometimes buy dogs so they won't get eaten. "I saw cat and dog intestines and carcasses strung up," an activist tells the Independent. "There were some dogs still alive in wire cages, but they looked exhausted, emaciated, and dirty." Locals say the dogs are killed in a humane manner at Yulin's festival, where people eat dog meat with lychees—but the tide in China may be turning against the practice. Roughly 30 million Chinese households are said to have dogs now, while more young people are moving into cities and buying animals for companionship, CNN reports. What's more, the city of Guangzhou—known for serving dogs and cats—just shut down a dog-meat restaurant. But while officials have criticized the Yulin festival, they stop short of imposing a legal ban against the slaughter of cats and dogs. "Yulin is an open, tolerant and civilised city," says the city's news office. "We welcome people across the world to pay attention to Yulin."