Is it right to eat dogs?

[tharun]

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.

[Katidyd]

Is it right? I would say it isn't wrong.

[Aristotle]

The best part of that article is the absolutely horrific writing. For example:

Even after a coalition of students and army officers kicked out old Rhee and his miserable white female bedmate

Could he/she sound any less professional and serious?

As to the subject: I see nothing wrong with eating dog. I wouldn't but to say there is something morally wrong about it is pretty silly.

[Mei]

I dunno about the morality of eating dogs, but this sex with dogs has to stop!

[kiania]

Personally, I don't eat beef, pork, lamb, or many other meats (I do eat fish). And I sort of agree with the ethical reasons behind it. However, I don't eat meat because of personal preferance...I don't like the taste, and I don't like the texture. I don't see how eating a dog would be any different from eating a pig, or a cow though.

Still...although I don't see the difference, I would be horrified if someone tried to snatch my pet to eat. Then again, if I had a pet sheep (which is a halfdream), a cow, a pig, horse, whatever, I wouldn't want to eat it, neither would I like anyone else to.

All animals should get the same respect (and, bearing in mind that I consider humans to be animals), I believe that mass murdering in any sense is wrong.

I do believe I've deviated enough now...

(as a side note...Menchi, Azurlan's dog is apparently tasty if you wish to try... )

[Talsek]

My favorite part of that article is where the author states that dogs are raised for sensual and sexual enjoyment in America. I just pictured combination dog pound/porn shops dotting the American landscape.

Oh, I have no desire to eat dog, but if someone else does I'll give them a fork. Eat what you like!

[Enosekel]

Doesn't bother me if people want to eat dog. I've tried it before and thought it was ok, nothing special, but I think that as far as flavor and the amount of meat you get off the carcass, animals that are raised to be livestock are more cost-efficient and worthwhile. Then again I've never seen a dog that was raised to be dinner, so who knows. I don't know about nutrients, either, and whether or not dog is better or worse for you than other choices.

I don't think I will seek out dog on a menu and -try- to eat it again. Partly because I just didn't think it was that fantastic (like ostrich...yeah, it's a neat novelty for people like me to try, but who cares?) but I am more used to thinking of dogs as friends than lunch. Heheh, I know, I'm brainwashed!

[Toberus]

That was a bizarre article to say the least.

I'm saying that from experience. I have lived here in South Korea for over 8 years. In that time I have eaten dog quite a few times. While I'm unsure of the truth of it being illegal to this day, as the article states, it certainly isn't hidden. I've been to dog restaurants. They are in no way underground nor is the meat only obtained from friends or seedy places. They are not rounding up people's pet dogs to eat either. I've seen dog farms where the dogs are raised only for eating and are not treated any worse or better than any other food animal. As far as I know the preffered method of killing is to crack them over the head with a pipe or a mallet not suffocating them with ashes or hanging them.

Korea has it's own share of dog lovers. I would estimate that only about half of the population has even tasted dog meat and most of the younger generation would never ever eat it. That article makes it seem like Korea is the same as it was at the end of the Korean war with everyone starving and rounding up stray dogs to eat. That is hardly the case. Korea is quite a wealthy nation. Dog has become a very expensive food stuff here, due largely to the fact that the people who eat it view it as an extremely healthy meat because of it's supposed similarity to human flesh.

That article to me sounded more like someone pretending to support eating dog but really hoping to anger Americans. If someone was trying to support eating something would they really describe the most brutal forms of slaughtering (which to my knowledge are on the outs in any case).

That being said...

As I stated earlier I have indeed eaten dog. At times I've found it quite delicious and at other times nothing spectacular. Often times it is served in big hunks which can be quite a lot like gristly roast beef. When it is cut against the grain though it is much better. The meat is quite tasty once you remove the chewy gristly aspect. As I stated in another thread, I once cooked dog chili as a joke but found it surprisingly good.

Far more shocking to me is stories I've heard in China about eating live monkey brains. I've also seen a chef scale, batter and fry a 'live' fish (keeping the head out of the oil) and serve it still gasping for breath. That is simply being perversly cruel as a novelty which I do not agree with at all.

I'm torn on a lot of things as far as eating go but I don't have a problem eating virtually any animal. I've eaten snake, seagull scorpion, grasshopper silk worm larvae and a few other odd things, but I think I might have a problem with primates or whales and of course (unless I was starving) I wouldn't touch ANY endangered species.



Bill the man behind Toberus.

[Alystrian]

...not me. But this made me actually laugh out loud:

Dog-eaters consider Monica's "eating" Bill Clinton's penis....

[Canderic]

as a previous dog owner and someone who plans to have a dog as a pet in the future i think it's wrong to eat dog. First there not stupid like cow's and other animals used for food. They can also become attacted to those that raise them they have emotions i'm not sure if cow's and chickens do or not but i know there brain doesn't process things like dog's can
as a pet cat owner and someone that treats his pets like members of the family i'd consider anyone eating either cat or dog disturbing i know it's done and some people like it so i wouldn't hold it against anyone but i'm not sure i'd want to spend any time with them either if i didn't have to. but i do have a friend that grew up on the farm and has raised his own annimals like cow's and he raises them for the slaughter and knows it so he doesn't become emotionaly attacted just proud if it wins contests at fairs and stuff.

Canderic