I found this article quite interesting, though the anti-american rehetoric at the beginning can be skipped. Anyway, my question for those who read it is, if its ok to eat cows and pigs, is it wrong for us to eat dogs if we wanta?
Dogs and Korean Nationalism
Lee Wha Rang, May 22, 1999
Seattle, Washington
In 1948, a Korean-American, Rhee Syngman, was put in charge of South Korea by Gen. Doug MacArthur. Rhee and his wife, Francisca - a white Austrian woman, ran South Korea as if it were their personal fiefdom until they were forced to return to their homeland, America, in 1960.
Rhee and his domineering white woman proceeded to Americanize South Korea. Their 'reform' policies were ruthlessly enforced by their secret police, recruited mostly from the Korean traitors who worked for the Japanese during Japan's occupation of Korea, The Rhee secret police were equipped and led by American 'advisers'.
Rhee, a former Korean nationalist, systematically killed off virtually all prominent Korean nationalists, including their leader and a former comrade-in-arms -- Kim Ku. Rhee demonized native religions such as Chong-do, Buddhism and Confuscism and promoted Christianity. 'Christians' were given choice government jobs and Christian officers and policemen were preferentially promoted over non-believers. South Korean politico and security servicemen promptly became "devout" followers of Christ and engaged in genocides and large-scale plundering of the nation's treasury in Jesus Christ's name.
Rhee's white woman banned the age-old custom of eating dogs in South Korea. She edicted that eating dogs was not 'civilized' and made it illegal to sell or eat dog meat in South Korea. Even after a coalition of students and army officers kicked out old Rhee and his miserable white female bedmate, the succeeding rulers of South Korea kept the dog-meat-ban in deference to their American sponsors.
Even though eating dogs has been illegal since Rhee's era, the custom has persisted to today. Even Rhee's brutal police were unable to stop South Koreans from eating dogs. South Korea's dog meat business have gone underground and dog-meat eaters can buy their delicacy from their 'friends' throughout South Korea. Dog-meat dishes are served in various disguises under a 'no-ask, no-tell' principle. Many of Rhee's top lieutenants were addicted to dog meat and they looked the other way and dog eaters were seldom punished. Incidentally, eating dogs is legal in North Korea and many North Korean restaurants offer dishes that contain parts of deceased dogs.
Dogs are eaten in Korea, parts of China, Siberia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, parts of Africa and America. The Native Americans used to eat dogs until the US Law banned it in the 1800's. However, with the resurgency of the Native Indian nationalism, dog-eating is rumored to be on the rise in several Indian "nations".
In America, dogs are often treated as if they were humans. Dogs eat special foods (no crumbs off dinner tables or human garbage), sleep on soft bedding (some dogs sleep with their masters and do have sexual contacts with them), receive medical treatments (some dogs even see psychiatrists) and get buried in a cemetery when they die (not eaten as they get old). Dogs which attack and kill human kids sometimes go unpunished.
In contrast, in the dog-eating world, dogs do not enjoy such privileges. 'Son-of-a-bitch' (gae-saek-gi) literally means that ('bitch' refers to a promiscuous woman in America - not a female dog). Gae-nom (dog person) refers to devilish persons. Gae-ddong (dog shits) refers to foulish garbage. In general, gae (dogs) stands for things bad and evil. Dogs are raised for gastronomical pleasures - not for sensual or sexual enjoyment as in America.
The dog eaters claim that eating dogs is not different from eating other domesticated animals such as pigs, chickens, cows, sheep and horses. In America, 4H Club children raise cows, sheep and pigs as pets and then sell them off to butcher shops (meat processing plants) for money without any hesitation. Dog-eaters claim that the Americans speak with forked tongues. They hunt down innocent and helpless animals for "sports" but they are psychotic about their dogs.
Some dog-lovers claim that dogs are over all other animals because they are more intelligent, lovable and loyal to humans. The dog-eaters counter that pigs are more intelligent than dogs but they become pork chops and hams. Baby cows are more lovable than dogs and perhaps more loyal than dogs - but they become veal. Horses are more loyal than dogs but they are turned into glues and foods for pets (dogs and cats).
Dog-eaters rightfully claim that dog-lovers (who call themselves animal-rights activists) are nothing but cultural imperialists bent on imposing their culture and lifestyles on other cultural groups. They say that pigs, cows and chicken are animals too and their rights are as important as those of dogs and cats. Buddhism promotes preservation of all animal life forms - dogs, cows, humans, insects and so on, which makes sense for genuine animal rights protection.
In the closing days of World War II, the Japanese feared that dogs would go wild and turn on humans during bombings by Yankee planes and ordered all dogs killed (a TV footage of pet dogs feeding on dead and wounded Russian soldiers in Chechenia comes to my mind). A dog warden was appointed in every village and he had the authority to catch any dog and sell the meat for his service. A dog warden had a long pole with a sharp metal hook at one end. He would snatch a dog with the sharp hook and drag his whimpering victims to a meat shop - totally ignoring the cries of the kids and women begging for their poor pets' life.
There are many ways to kill a dog without damaging any edible parts of the dog (i.e., no beheading, no shooting and no spearing). Some dogs are hanged by the neck from a tall fence post. It takes a long time to kill a dog in this manner. Dogs yelp for a long time before falling silent. Some butchers help the poor dogs by cutting their throat right after they are strung up (the blood is saved for cooking, of course). Some butchers prefer the silent method whereby a dog's head is placed in a bag of ashes until the poor dog suffocates. After a dog is killed, it is drained of blood and its hairs are burned off over a wood fire. It stomach is cut open and its internal organs and intestines are removed. Every body part is consumed.
World War II saw many dogs killed by the Japanese dog wardens and the poor animals were eagerly eaten by appreciative villagers - thanks to the American B29 bombers (Korea was spared of any actual bombing during WWII). The Japanese army ate our pigs, cows and chicken and we got to eat our dogs (The Japanese do not eat dogs - having been "Westernized" in the 19th century).
There are many ways to prepare dog dishes. Perhaps the most popular of them is bo-sin-tang (health soup) - a steaming bowl of red hot shredded dog meat and skin. Another is gae-sun-dae: canine intestines are turned inside out, cleaned, stuffed with dog blood, rice, garlic and other ingredients, and boiled into dog sausages. A 100-pound dog can easily feed a family of 10 for several days.
What one eats has little bearing on one's status of civilization. One man's gourmet is another man's sacred cow. Dog-eaters consider Monica's "eating" Bill Clinton's penis and dog-lovers having sex with canine 'pets' more barbaric than eating dogs. Dog-eaters are contemptuous of those hypocritical animal rights activists who eat dead cows, chicken, pigs, turkeys, and fish and yet yell 'murder' when a dog is eaten for food.
