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China must be banned from hosting the World Dog Show, say campaigners outraged over the country’s appalling animal rights record.

An international body representing kennel clubs in 90 countries plans to stage the flagship event in Shanghai in 2019 – despite being aware of the meat trade horrors, exposed by the Mirror.

A petition has gained 550,000 signatures calling for the city to be stripped of the show after cruelty cases which include boiling greyhounds alive.

And Britain’s Kennel Club, which organises Crufts, won’t be attending the event.

Secretary Caroline Kisko said: “We should lobby and say to China ‘if you want to hold the dog show you should be taking a very active role in ending this ghastly trade’.

“We are completely and utterly against it and we campaign on this issue every year. We encourage people to lobby against it and 100% want to see it come to an end.

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“The argument that it’s a tradition to eat dogs does not hold any water with us.”

Over 10 million dogs are slaughtered in the country every year.

One concerned Facebook user wrote: “Boycott...Nobody in their right mind should even think of hosting a dog show in China.”

(Image: Mirror)

Trine Hage, CEO of the Norwegian Kennel Club, added: “We were very critical of the decision to award the World Dog Show 2019 to China.

"We advise everyone, both judges and exhibitors, to follow his or her conscience when it comes to this event.

“Some people say that this could be an important event to bring about changes within China – or it could be seen as highly inappropriate to award such an event to a country where the public torture of dogs is so widespread.”

The World Dog Show is the most prestigious international event for dog groomers and trainers to display their animals.

It is organised by the Belgian group Fédération Cynologique Internationale, which is the largest canine organisation in the world.

The FCI has protested against China’s Yulin Festival, which sees over 10,000 dogs slaughtered every year for their meat. FCI Director Yves De Clercq said it is not hypocritical to hold the show in China.

“A large majority of our members voted for the World Dog Show to be held in China,” he said.

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“I understand protests and make clear the FCI is against any cruelty to animals, specifically dogs. We stand against the cruel ways in which the dogs are killed. This is unbearable.

“But to ban China from hosting the World Dog Show would be a real bad sign to China. We are saying it is an opportunity to show people dogs are not just food.”