Think festivals are all about happiness? Then check out these celebrations from around the world that specialize in slaughter.

A dog is cooped up in a cage at a local market in Yulin, Guangxi Zhaung Autonomous Region in 2015. Yulin holds an annual dog meat festival in June, during which thousands of dogs and cats are slaughtered and eaten, Global Times reports. Photo: CFP

 

Fishermen hunt dolphins in a cove near Taiji, Japan in 2014. Each year 20,000 dolphins are slaughtered in Japanese waters, the Daily Mail reports. Photo: CFP

 

Butchers slaughter sacrificial buffalos as part of the "Gadhimai Mela" festival held in Bariyapur, Nepal in 2014. According to the Daily Mail, the festival, that is held every 5 years, is the world’s largest mass sacrifice of animals. More than 250,000 buffalos, goats and other animals were killed over two days in 2014, while the number was 500,000 in 2009. Millions of people travel to watch the slaughter. Photo: CFP

 

A slaughtered whale lies bloodied on a Faroe Islands beach in 2009, where hundreds of pilot whales are killed every year. Residents of the Faroe Islands crowd whales into shallow bays where they are killed with blows to the dorsal area. Instead of being sold, the whale meat is distributed to communities for consumption. Photo: IC

 

A hunter prepares to club a seal to death in Northern Canada. Canada’s annual commercial seal hunt takes place in March and April, during which thousands of young seals are killed and skinned. In 2015, more than 468,000 seals were slaughtered, 95-98 per cent of which were just 3 weeks to 3 months old. Photo: CFP