Tightening to manage custom of animal slaughter at festivals

Illustrative image

(Cinet)- A workshop to discuss about the custom of animal slaughter at festivals was organized on July 02 to review management tasks during the festival season in the first half of this year.

Culture Minister Hoang Tuan Anh was speaking at a workshop to review management tasks during the festival season in the first half of this year. Comparatively new festivals involving animal slaughter, mostly aimed at making profits for local organizers, will not be permitted from next year, Culture Minister Hoang Tuan Anh has said.

There are nearly 8,000 festivals organized throughout the country each year, of this 88 per cent are folk festivals, 4.2 per cent are historical festivals, 6.3 per cent are religious events, while 0.12 per cent have been adopted from overseas.

Many festivals have turned into profit-making sources for organizers.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has reported that management tasks at festivals in the first half of the year have scored better than previous years. Many localities have taken greater care of traffic order, security, food hygiene, and tourism services at festivals and successfully associated festivals with tourism.

Therefore, the online workshop gathered dozens of researchers and cultural officials from three main cities: Ha Noi, HCM City, and Da Nang.

During the first half of the year, there were many festivals that involved animal slaughter such as the pig slaughtering festival at Nem Thuong Village in northern province Bac Ninh and Cau Trau festival in Huong Nha Commune, Xuan Quan District, northern province Phu Tho, which had a ceremony of breaking a buffalo’s head.

Pigs to be chopped up for sacrifice (2014). Photo: Internet

“Though animal slaughter happens only at village festivals, news about them reach international audiences thanks to the easy access to modern information technology today,” he noted.

The Culture Ministry will cooperate with local authorities throughout the country to stop such brutality and chaos at festivals, which have negative effects on local communities and harm Viet Nam’s image among the international community, he stressed.

According to Vu Xuan Thanh, an official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, a workshop on the custom of animal slaughter at festivals was held earlier this year, where scientists admitted that such customs can be reformed to suit existing social situations.

“We need to carefully research these customs to retain their positive features and give up negative ones and remodel them to suit the modern society,” he remarked.

For example, locals at Nem Thuong Village in Bac Ninh Province have altered their practice of pig slaughter. The festival of Nem Thuong Village includes many different programs, including cultural contests like the Quan ho (love duet) singing contest, the human chess competition, the rice cooking-running contest … all that should be preserved. We only suggest not holding the ritual pig-chopping rite because we see its negative impact on animal welfare issues, as well as the negative impact on society.

Chopping healthy live pigs is a cruel behavior to animals. It hardens emotions of the viewer to witness how the animals are treated brutally, especially children, who are vulnerable and have incomplete psychological stability.

In addition, Co Tu buffalo killing festival is very popular among ethnic minority people in the mountainous areas of northwestern Quang Nam province, and also regarded as a unique custom of the Co Tu in Axan commune, Tay Giang district.The festival aims to make a sacrificial offering to the gods in anticipation of good crops as the main source of peoples’ livelihood.

Co Tu buffalo killing festival

To conclude, the festival also causes unnecessary suffering and pain to animals. The continuation of this festival sends out a message that animals are things not to be respected.

In the past few years, the pig slaughter ceremony has not been carried out at local communal houses in front of all the people.

The event is held to revive the glorious victories of General Ly Doan Thuong’s forces hundreds of years ago. Hence, it has been a part of the village tradition.

Tightening to manage custom of animal slaughter at festivals Related image(s)