More than 40 specialists, including law professors, lawyers and animal rights activists, signed an agreement to shut down the festival on Friday, saying such a 'tradition' will affect China's image overseas and should be banned.

40多个专家，包括法律专家、律师及动物权利保护者签署了一个协议声明，要求取消在周五取消狗肉节，并声称这样的“传统”会影响中国在海外的形象应该被禁止。

The annual festival, slated for June 21 in Yulin, celebrates a local tradition of eating dog meat hotpot and lychees and drinking strong liquor on the summer solstice.

在玉林每年6月21日这一天人们会吃狗肉火锅、吃荔枝、喝烈酒来庆祝夏至节。

But the festival has been shrouded in controversy since it was exposed on the Internet early this month. Some lawyers and animal rights associations even came to the city to investigate.

然而自从本月初这个节日被曝网上之后就饱受争议。一些律师和动物保护者协会就来到该市进行调查。

Li Weimin, a lawyer from Weibo Law Firm, went to the city twice over the past two weeks and said he found that most of the dog meat that is to be served at the festival is from the black market.

李伟民（音译），一名来自微博法律团的律师，在过去的两周内去过玉林两次，他发现狗肉节上的大部分狗肉都来源自黑市。

'I was told there are four major workshops that produce dog meat in the city. I visited them and found all of them had no business licenses or certificates,' Li said, adding he believed the meat made in such places was unhealthy.

“我被告知该城市有四大生产狗肉的作坊。我参观了这些地方发现他们都没有经营许可证，”李先生说道，他补充道在这样的地方加工的肉类一定很不健康。

The decision to eat the dog meat depends on the individual but trades related to dog meat are illegal according to current Chinese laws, Li said.

李先生还说道，是否决定吃狗肉都取决于个人，但是依据中国现行的法律来看有关狗肉的相关交易是非法的。

An Xiang, an animal rights lawyer in Beijing, said there are no dog farms or legal slaughter houses in China. The dogs for the festival are raised in households, abducted from the streets, or even poisoned, An said.

安翔（音译），一名北京的动物维权律师说道，中国没有肉狗养殖场或是合法的屠宰场。狗肉节上的狗肉来自家养、街上的狗还有的甚至是被毒死的。

The Ministry of Agriculture issued a quarantine regulation on dogs and cats last year, requiring laboratory quarantine for the animals before they are transported.

去年农业局还发表过关于猫狗的安全检疫监管，要求动物只有通过安全检疫所的检查才能允许运输。

'But it's rare to see such quarantine places in our country, and similar rules are still not enough,' he added.

他还说，“但是在我们的国家很少见到这种检疫所，相似的条例也不够。”

The Yulin government said it would show a quarantine certificate, but they haven't shown it yet, an animal rights expert, said.

一名动物权利专家说玉林当地政府曾表示会出示检疫证明，但是至今未有消息。

Instead, the government has put a logo for the festival on the city's streets, adding the authority might realize advertising the festival in such a way is not sensible.

相反地，当地政府还在该城市街道上铺设了狗肉节的图案标志。当局应该认识到这种做法是不明智的。

However, Cao Mingde, a law professor from China University of Political Science and Law, said he was pessimistic about restricting residents from eating dog meat and that he doubted an animal protection law could be established within three years.

然而，曹明德（音译）一名来自中国政法大学的法律教授不太看好禁止居民吃狗肉的实施，他也怀疑三年内是否能建立动物保护法。