All dog lovers like myself would agree that there exists no worse scenes than those taking place in summertime Yulin, where puppies were tortured, beaten, and even boiled and skinned alive to please local residents’ appetite. This year, Yulin’s annual dog meat festival consumed approximately 10,000 dogs, sparking more controversy than ever. Provocative descriptions of the event, along with graphic pictures of dogs turned into dinner, went viral on social media, and #StopYuLin2015 has in no time become a favorite hashtag of every American animal activist on Twitter, registering more than 1 million instances.
However, it is impossible to miss the voice of Western supremacy amidst the roaring international outcry. Labeling the event as “uncivilized” and “inhumane,” Americans decided to bring back the repugnancy test, declaring once again that non-Western customs are inferior and subject to Western values, likely a response to China’s growing political influence and economic power.