China’s pork crisis piques interest in dog and cat meat, as animal activists raise the alarm over illegal slaughter

Some regions of China have a long tradition of dog meat consumption, but African swine fever has boosted interest in an alternative source of protein to pork

Animal rights groups claim that as many as 10 million dogs are eaten each year, claiming that many are stolen or poisoned

Reading Time:5 minutes

In Guilin, China's dog meat-eating heartland, the country's pork crisis, sparked by African swine fever, has led to rising dog and cat meat sales at market stalls. Photo: He Huifeng

Published: 9:00pm, 3 Jan 2020Updated: 10:11pm, 3 Jan 2020

At a wet market in Guilin, a city in China’s Guangxi province, a pork trader is bemoaning the loss of sales to an unlikely competitor.

“They have taken away a lot of our business this year because now dog meat, as well as cat meat, is cheaper than pork and beef,” said the vendor, while pointing at a dog meat stand doing a roaring trade at the city’s bustling Ximen fresh market in December.

He is one of the many people in China to have suffered due to an African swine fever crisis which has led to the deaths of up to a quarter of the world’s pigs, decimating the nation’s pork supply, according to research from Rabobank. Since the first reported case in August 2018, pork prices have soared, culminating in a year-on-year increase of 110 per cent in November.

“Pork was priced at just 25 yuan (US$3.57) per kilogram last year and now has soared to 60 yuan,” said the Guilin dog meat trader, referring to the change since 2018. Prices of other meats have also risen sharply, including chicken, duck and beef, along with other protein sources such as eggs.

The prices of pork and beef were advertised as between 60 and 90 yuan per kilogram in the markets of Guilin. Dog meat was going for 45 yuan per kilogram on average, while cat meat was just 24 yuan per kilogram.

China’s pork crisis piques interest in dog and cat meat, as animal activists raise the alarm over illegal slaughter

Some regions of China have a long tradition of dog meat consumption, but African swine fever has boosted interest in an alternative source of protein to pork Animal rights groups claim that as many as 10 million dogs are eaten each year, claiming that many are stolen or poisoned

Some regions of China have a long tradition of dog meat consumption, but African swine fever has boosted interest in an alternative source of protein to pork

Animal rights groups claim that as many as 10 million dogs are eaten each year, claiming that many are stolen or poisoned