Chinese dog-eating festival outrages foreigners

a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

I do wonder if it is something that goes back centuries or is a recent thing owing to the various failed policies in the 50's, 60's and 70's. Kind of like why British food is viewed as "stodgy" or "bad - it is a hangover from the War and rationing.

EDIT: Apparently, it goes back several thousand years....

Linky winky

originally posted by: paraphi

Each year during summer solstice, it's thought that 10,000 dogs are cooked and eaten in Yulin, in in southern China, as part of the city's yearly dog meat festival. Although it's not illegal to eat dog meat in China, opinion is divided on how deep the "tradition" really runs.

Chinese dog-eating festival outrages foreigners

He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals. Immanuel Kant

Difficult one this, as it shows a difference between the Western European-based cultures who generally treat dogs with respect, and some parts of the Eastern cultures who like to eat dogs.

I like dogs and consider this type of behaviour to be an affront. Dogs are different from other animals as they have evolved in partnership with humans, although I doubt this has much truck in a dog restaurant in Guangxi province.

However, the problem is deeper than just a dog-eating festival, as dogs are used in the leather trade and for other body parts. In fact, dogs - like any animal in China - live pretty horrid lives. In China the words "animal welfare" have not found translation.

Apart from people joining in the social media backlash against this type of thing, we can take wider action by not buying Chinese goods. This is quite difficult, I know, but boycotting any product that may have animal "parts" e.g. leather or glue, may be a good start. Also, if you are travelling to China, you may want to scrutinise what you eat!

Because I think it's revolting and I would not look at them anyway, I will not post links to the many YouTube videos cataloguing Chinese treatment of animals and dogs, nor will I post the results of a Google image search "Chinese +dog +eating" as I expect that will be unkind.

> 10,000 Dogs Tortured as Part of Annual Yulin Dog-Eating Festival
> 5 Things You Need to Know About China’s Dog-Eating Festival
> Joaquin Phoenix speaks out after watching horrific video of dogs being brutally slaughtered in China to be made into LEATHER
> Dogs and Humans Evolved Together, Study Suggests
> Dog and Human Genomes Evolved Together

The Chinese have eaten dogs for thousands of years. People in India eat rats. Australian Aborigines eat cats.

Western society is not better because we choose which animals to eat, if they view them as food, then who are we to say it is wrong? I have eaten alligator and Menudo. Even those cracklings that everyone loves so much, that's pig intestines deep fried.

Would I eat dog? Probably not, but somehow Western culture has dictated that you don't eat pets. But look at this way, at least it limits the number of wild and feral dogs and reduces the cost of putting so many to sleep.

When you are really hungry, you'll eat anything.

originally posted by: stumason
a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

I do wonder if it is something that goes back centuries or is a recent thing owing to the various failed policies in the 50's, 60's and 70's. Kind of like why British food is viewed as "stodgy" or "bad - it is a hangover from the War and rationing.

EDIT: Apparently, it goes back several thousand years....

Linky winky

And apparently we must be so much more "civilized" because we don't eat dogs.....

I always say that if it keeps people from starving, then by all means eat it. Even the Celts in their recent ancient past ate dogs.

Perhaps the OP would like a rundown of foods the ancestors ate?

In Italy just after WWII, they had to eat so many horses that the horse population was reduced greatly. I think the OP is a comfortable Westerner that perceives only acceptable things for the OP.

a reply to: stumason

yes it's a pretty old thing for them.
Look i am a dog person, so i won't exactly put "dog recipe" into my google searches, but our cultures evolved differently, they don't place the kind of value that we do on dogs, and it's really just because we have been told to do so.
the only reason we don't drink rat milk is because a cow makes more. now we could make the argument that the idea of drinking rat milk is gross, but we would only say that because we've been raised to see cow milk as normal to drink.

We are strange indeed

a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

Indeedy - in fact, on the subject of cows milk, there are whole swathes of the earth's population that cannot stomach it because they've not been brought up to consume it.

a reply to: paraphi

This is a cultural thing.. You as a foreigner have no say in it...And if that means you boycotting all things made in china then you are just bullying them into changing their culture in favor of yours...What gives you that right?

I am originally from West Africa and in my culture,dog meat is a favorite.I used to have a plate of it at least twice a month,and I can tell you its the best tasting meat i have tasted so far(better than pork,chicken,beef,horse,snake,shark,octopus....).Living in the US,I cant have it,but i sure as hell miss it...

Does this make me any less human than you?

originally posted by: wildapache
Does this make me any less human than you?

To be fair, I don't think paraphi thinks that - he just likes Dog's as pets and as a result, is not comfortable with the idea of eating them.

For the same reasons you want your culture respected, the same goes the other way.

This reminds me of that scene from the movie "young guns" where the young kid asks the cowboy what the name of his horse is he replies by saying it doesnt have a name, the kid say's what do you mean it doesnt have a name?
Cowboy replies. Listen kid, you dont give an animal a name that you might have to eat!

Anyway we went through a natural disaster, flood as it happened, almost four days without power, cut off from other suburbs completly, kids asked me "dad what do we do if we run out of food"? I said we eat the dog! well of course that joke went down like a lead balloon.

originally posted by: wildapache
This is a cultural thing.. You as a foreigner have no say in it...And if that means you boycotting all things made in china then you are just bullying them into changing their culture in favor of yours...What gives you that right?

Cultural to be cruel to animals, as per the point the OP. Not just eating dogs, but animal cruelty?

Happy for people to find any excuse to say it's OK.

At the olympics they had some pics of foods



Dog was on the menu.

www.s-t-f-u.com...

a reply to: paraphi

A long history of hunger often emerges as a tradition among us humans. Different histories. Different traditions.

Many of my fellow Americans will be surprised and amazed also to know that our famous Lewis & Clark expedition ate dog, sometimes at the amusement of the American Indians they traveled among. Lewis had with him a much cherished dog also. And it is true also that they frequently were desperate for food.

The difference between eating a dog and cattle?. The dog was introduced to our lives many ions ago as a companion, protector, defender,guardian, hunter, worker, watcher, herder, friend and family member. Its like eating your brother, we have created an almost symbiotic relationship. End of story, you dont eat dogs and thats it. You need protein ? eat some beans

a reply to: papazen

Ah, you hold authority for humankind eh? Interesting.
That's fine, don't eat dogs if you don't want to, but please try to refrain from spouting your personal beliefs as moral absolutes. It makes you sound like a zealot.

a reply to: papazen

Oh give over with the sentimentality - it's a dog, an animal and it would eat you the moment you fell over dead (jn fact, some dogs will have a good go at eating you before you fall over dead).

While some people might view dog's as some of things you listed, the vast majority do not.

As for symbiotic? Not even close. Dog's can survive, thrive even, without man and man can do perfectly well without dogs.

All you're doing is ascribing your own emotional baggage to this.

What both of you think of me is not what the thread is about.

Are the people that complain about the Chinese eating dog meat also going to complain about South Americans eating cuy?

For the holier-than-thou who don't know what that is, it's guinea pig meat. Another one of those "beloved" pets out there.

It's not a matter of what's more intelligent or not, and even if it was, chicken, pigs & goats are viewed as smart and also kept as pets. We still eat THOSE without issue.The bottom line is, it's cultural & it's not your country nor culture, thus you have little right to bitch, much like you tell foreigners they have no right to bitch about American ways.

If you don't like the idea of a particular food source, do what good parents used to teach before the special snowflake epidemic -- Don't eat it, and don't be rude about it.

I found it humorous that this thread appeared directly below "The Amazing and ridiculous high cost of food".

a reply to: papazen

I didn't say anything about you, but rather about what you said.

originally posted by: wildapache
a reply to: paraphi

This is a cultural thing.. You as a foreigner have no say in it...And if that means you boycotting all things made in china then you are just bullying them into changing their culture in favor of yours...What gives you that right?

I am originally from West Africa and in my culture,dog meat is a favorite.I used to have a plate of it at least twice a month,and I can tell you its the best tasting meat i have tasted so far(better than pork,chicken,beef,horse,snake,shark,octopus....).Living in the US,I cant have it,but i sure as hell miss it...

Does this make me any less human than you?

People who eat meat aren't less human than those who do, it's the cruel barbaric deaths that the poor dogs are suffering that makes these chinese animal torturers less human. They don't bat an eyelid at the howls of pain and utter terror they inflict, they are immune from any shred of empathy. Sick sadistic bastards.

Eat dog meat if you want, but don't put them through the most agonizing way to die in order to do it. Meat is still edible after a quick kill believe it or not.

a reply to: damwel

Dog's are expensive.... A sheep is probably cheaper, especially if you buy them as a lamb.