Claim: Taiwan's 'holy pig' festival cruel, says rights group.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Shen Dzu
text: Shen Dzu Shen Dzu or God Pig, sometimes known as Holy pig (Traditional Chinese: 神豬, Simplified Chinese: 神猪; Mandarin Pinyin: shénzhū, Wade–Giles: shen-chu, Hokkien POJ: sîn-tu), are pigs that have been chronically fattened for use in Hakka religious and cultural ceremonies, for example, the New Year Lunar celebration in Sanxia, northern Taiwan. Pigs are fattened in a process similar to (and as controversial as) gavage to make them as large as possible in preparation for contests and awards at the festival. The heaviest pig is declared the winner and the owner may receive a prize. The winning pig and other

title: Shen Dzu
text: pigs entered into the contest are ritually killed as a sacrifice to a city god or a local deity, a popular one being the deified Buddhist monk Qingshui Zushi. After being sacrificed, the hair of the winning pig is removed or the bristles shaved into patterns, and the skin is stretched across a metal frame. Further decorations are added such as placing a pineapple in the pig's mouth. The stretched skin, along with the carcasses or stretched skins of the other fattened pigs, are then paraded on a float. Many Holy pigs end up weighing over 800 kg whereas a

title: Lychee and Dog Meat Festival
text: humanely and that "eating dog is no different from eating pork or beef". Animal rights activists and campaigners, however, claim that the animals are "treated cruelly", based on photographs of the event. Many dogs suffer before being killed, there are videos of dogs being beaten to death with metal bars, skinned alive, boiled alive and suffer many diseases. A witness claimed that some of the dogs eaten appeared to be stolen household pets, judging by their collars. A retired school teacher, Yang Xiaoyun, paid ¥150,000 to rescue 360 dogs and dozens of cats from the festival in 2014, and ¥7,000

title: Lychee and Dog Meat Festival
text: humans is not Western. It's a transcultural phenomenon". The director of Animal Protection and Crisis Response for Humane Society International explained in an article on CNN the reasons for his opposition to the festival and called on the Yulin government to cancel the festival. An article in 2016 that was written by the BBC noted that the dog meat festival began in China amid widespread criticism, saying, "Activists say the event is cruel, and this year a petition calling for it to be banned collected 11 million signatures." An article in "The Guardian" by Jill Robinson said that the dog

title: Lunar New Year Fair
text: example, in 2007, students from various schools set up stalls to sell many special products which are related to the pig, for example Pig Tissue Holder, Fatty Pork Chop Scarf, etc. Traditionally, the Governor of Hong Kong visited the fair annually, usually in Victoria Park. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong continues this tradition. In 2006, fairs were held in: In 2007, fairs were held in: Guangzhou is said to be the source of the Lunar New Year Fair. During the rule of the PRC, the Lunar New Year Fair was interrupted only once, for a few years during the

title: Spring Scream
text: Spring Scream The Spring Scream () is an outdoor music festival held in early April each year at Kenting, Pingtung County, Taiwan. The festival showcases a variety of music styles from bands both from Taiwan and overseas. Each year the festival adds the name of the current Chinese astrological animal to its name. The festival is organised by two expatriate Americans, Wade Davis and Jimi Moe, and has grown significantly since its beginnings in 1995. The event length has been between 2 and 11 days and as many as 300 acts on 8 stages. It also features a film festival,

title: Mondo Cane
text: a celebration that recurs every five years, in a matter of hours, dozens of pigs are slaughtered by beating on their heads with wooden poles and eaten, after which the partly cannibalistic community returns to its perpetual state of hunger. Dogs, however, are fed and treated with affection and respect. At the Pet Haven Cemetery in Pasadena, California, dog owners mourn their beloved. In Taipei, Taiwan, dogs are grown, butchered and skinned alive for local dog meat gourmets. In Rome, hundreds of chicks are tinged in many colors and then dried at 50 degrees Celsius to be included in Easter

title: Spring Scream
text: art exhibits, DJs, stalls, food vendors and camping. Spring Scream The Spring Scream () is an outdoor music festival held in early April each year at Kenting, Pingtung County, Taiwan. The festival showcases a variety of music styles from bands both from Taiwan and overseas. Each year the festival adds the name of the current Chinese astrological animal to its name. The festival is organised by two expatriate Americans, Wade Davis and Jimi Moe, and has grown significantly since its beginnings in 1995. The event length has been between 2 and 11 days and as many as 300 acts on

title: Dog meat
text: 2,000 dogs during the Yulin festival. There are several campaigns to stop the festival; more than 3,000,000 people have signed petitions against it on Weibo (China's equivalent of Twitter). One of the petitions, addressed to the Chinese Minister of Agriculture, Chen Wu, reads "Do the humane thing by saying no to this festival and save the lives of countless dogs that will fall victim to this event – an event that will butcher, skin alive, beat to death etc. thousands of innocent dogs." Prior to the 2014 festival, doctors and nurses staff were ordered not to eat dog meat there,

title: Lychee and Dog Meat Festival
text: Because of the social media campaigns, the number of dogs slaughtered has steadily decreased since 2013 to 1,000 in 2016. An article in Time said that, "the festival is more than an animal rights issue. It is a public health concern." In an interview with The New York Times, professor Peter J. Li of the University of Houston–Downtown said in response to the claim that dog meat promoters accused Chinese activists of introducing a harmful Western ideology into China that opposition to eating dog meat at the festival began with the Chinese themselves, as "the bond between companion animals and

title: Cannstatter Volksfest
text: the parade. On the orders of King Wilhelm I, masked pigs (Maskenschweine?) were imported from Central China in 1820/21, in order to improve pig breeding in the kingdom of Baden-Württemberg. This crossbreeding with the "Chinese pigs" was particularly successful within the stocks of domestic pigs in the Hohenlohe region and the area around the town of Schwäbisch Hall. German Reunification is marked every year on 3 October by a firework display. Every three years an agricultural exhibition ("Landwirtschaftliches Hauptfest") is included in the main celebration. This was the original Cannstatter Wasen Volksfest. Unlike the Volksfest, there is an entrance fee

title: Zushi Temple
text: Temple holds a Pigs of God (神豬) Contest. Farmers compete to raise the fattest pig, which during the competition day, the pig is decorated with ornaments. The fattest pig is then sacrificed to Zushi-Gong. In the past few years, this tradition has been met with disapproval by animal rights activists. While the majority of temples that practice this rite have started using symbolic pigs, Zushi Temple in Sanxia still continues the tradition of using a live pig. Unique among temples, all of the walls and columns of Zushi Temple are sculpted from stone. The details are also carved with a

title: Yanshui District
text: Yanshui District Yanshuei District () is a district in Tainan, Taiwan, which is famous for its notoriously dangerous fireworks festival. The annual event commemorates a cholera epidemic more than a century ago, the fireworks symbolizing the exorcism of demons associated with the plague. The festival, known as "Fengpao" (), is celebrated on the 15th day after the beginning of the Lunar New Year, also called Shang Yuan Festival. Formerly known as "Goat-tin-kang" (). In 1901 during Japanese rule, was one of twenty local administrative offices established. In 1909, this unit was divided among and . In 1920, after reorganization, was

title: Pig's blood cake
text: mochi. Pig's blood cake Pig's blood cake () is a street food delicacy served on a stick from market stalls in Taiwan. It is made with pork blood, sticky rice and soy broth. It is fried or steamed and coated in peanut flour. Pig's blood cake came from Fujian to Taiwan and then developed . It is eaten as a snack. It can also be cooked in a hot pot. It is served hot by street vendors who keep it warmed in a wooden box or metal steamer. A description from "Seriouseats" described it as cross between a rice cake

title: Qingshui (monk)
text: and other vegetables as sacrificial items on his birthday every year to prove their loyalty to his teachings and their loves. And up till now, many people still visit his temple throughout the years to pray for his divine protections. Some also believe they will gain great luck for the rest of the year by paying their visits. God pigs are also a popular sacrifice to Qingshui among the Hakka people. Qingshui (monk) Qingshui (; 1047-1101), also known as Chó͘-su-kong (), born Chen Zhaoyin () was a Chan Buddhist monk during the Northern Song from Anxi County, Quanzhou. He was

title: Cheung Chau Bun Festival
text: of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, the islanders organise a weeklong thanksgiving, the Cheung Chau Bun Festival usually in April or May. The festival lasts for seven days. On three of these days the entire island goes vegetarian; most of the island's famous seafood restaurants adhere to this tradition. The local McDonald's also takes meat off the menu and instead sells veggie burgers made of mushrooms. In addition to traditional lion dances and dragon dances, children dressed as legendary and modern heroes are suspended above the crowd on the tips of swords and paper fans (飄色). They form

title: School Days with a Pig
text: together with the announcement of this film on 25 August 2008. This film was first released at the 21st Tokyo International Film Festival, where it was one of the films participating in the competition. It was then released in Japan cinemas on 1 November 2008. Later, this film was released in Singapore on 8 April 2009. It was also released in Taiwan on 10 April 2009 and in Hong Kong on 27 August 2009 under the name of (). The home video was released in DVD (Region 2) format on Amazon Japan on 4 October 2009. A special limited 2-disc

title: Cheung Chau Bun Festival
text: that may share the folk custom include Taiwan, Sichuan, Fujian and Guangdong. Cheung Chau's Bun Festival, which draws tens of thousands of local and overseas tourists every year, is staged to mark the Eighth day of the Fourth Month, in the Chinese calendar (this is usually in early May). It coincides with the local celebration of Buddha's Birthday. The Cheung Chau Bun Festival began as a fun and exciting ritual for fishing communities to pray for safety from pirates. Today this religious origin has largely been forgotten, and the festival has mainly a become a showcase of traditional Chinese culture.

title: Ghost Festival
text: is the origin of the festival name. Traditionally, it is believed that ghosts haunt the island of Taiwan for the entire seventh lunar month, when the mid-summer "Ghost Festival" is held. The month is known as "Ghost Month". The first day of the month is marked by opening the gate of a temple, symbolizing the gates of hell. On the twelfth day, lamps on the main altar are lit. On the thirteenth day, a procession of lanterns is held. On the fourteenth day, a parade is held for releasing water lanterns. Incense and food are offered to the spirits to

title: Qixi Tribute
text: story and mortal’s lives. The third one is collective cooperation, which is the largest production scale. The village head calls up his villagers together to buy a pigling. And every family takes turns to feed the pigling in several days. In the past time, when the pig became bigger near the Qixi Festival, the villagers would sell the pig out to earn some money as the fund in making Qixi tributes. But nowadays, instead of selling out, the pig is killed on July 6th, before the day of Qixi Festival, to worship the Seven Goddesses as the offering. After the