The fact that people are eating dog meat? That shouldn't [shock and sadden you]. Unless you're vegetarian or vegan -- I'm not, by the way, although I do try to eat relatively little meat -- you don't have any moral high ground to stand on. Here in the United States... eating dog could be seen as a reasonable alternative to pig, which is another highly intelligent animal....
The United States euthanizes 1.2 million dogs per year, according to the ASPCA. Would eating them be so different?It actually could be seen as helpful...Euthanizing pets, he says, "amounts to millions of pounds of meat now being thrown away every year. The simple disposal of these euthanized dogs is an enormous ecological and economic problem. It would be demented to yank pets from homes. But eating those strays, those runaways, those not-quite-cute-enough-to-take and not-quite-well-behaved-enough-to-keep dogs would be killing a flock of birds with one stone and eating it, too."But wait: Dogs are companions, right? Pigs (mostly) are not. True, in America.In parts of Vietnam, not so much.In India, remember, cows are sacred.And eating pig is off limits for many Muslim and Jewish people.... if you refuse to eat only the meat of 'companion' animals -- chewing bacon, for example, while telling Koreans that they can't stew Dalmatians -- you're saying that the morality of killing depends on habit or even whim."
From an op-ed piece at CNN.
As a logical human with the vestiges of "hippiedom," I had many discussions with others back in the day about the eating of...horses. You would have thought I had a quick and painful way to hell right there on the spot. The fact that horse is a common part of the diet in many other cultures did nothing to convince them. Made no sense then, makes less sense now!
ReplyDeleteThey say that the men on the Lewis and Clark expedition, having reached the western shore and camped long the Columbia River, preferred dog to salmon. There they were on one of the largest salmon fisheries in the world, surrounded by stockpiles of dried and smoked salmon, and the river teeming with fish, but they were buying dog from the Indians because they preferred meat to fish.
ReplyDeleteI don't eat much meat either, but I can't quite become a vegetarian. I know some cultures eat dogs. People all around the world eat insects as a valuable source of protein. They are not pets in any sense, but I think I would eat an insect or two if I had to. If I had to eat dog to survive, I don't even then think I could. I couldn't eat a horse or a cat either. I'm sure if I had a pet pig, a la Wilbur, I wouldn't be able to eat pork either.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I could eat a small dog, since I couldn't do muskrat my aunt cooked. Those ribs sticking up, the obvious carcass-ness, just didn't work. Dog stew, I'd try. Down to taste, and flavors I'm used to, I guess.
ReplyDeleteCuriously, back in the late 1960's, when my father went to work for IITA (International Institute for Tropical Agriculture) in Nigeria, he told us about a study they had done. In this study they found that Nigerians in specific, and Africans in general would get adequate amounts of protein by eating _MORE_ insects, not just start eating insects.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, we saw giant African Rats cooked and ready to eat. I had some pet white rats, and would from time to time cull the herd. Our Steward learned about this, and asked for the rats, which I freely gave. They had a real party that night.
As a vegetarian, it's all something I'll pass on. More than twenty years ago I decided that if I couldn't kill an animal myself to eat it, then I shouldn't eat animal flesh. I could never look a living creature in the eye and end its life. As long as I have access to non-animal flesh food, I'll stay a vegetarian.
ReplyDeleteI have mostly heard meat eaters objecting to the practice of eating companion animals...Vegans and vegetarians see all animals as equal and eat none.
ReplyDeleteDog meat can never ever be kosher, dogs don't have split hooves or chews their cud (ex: cattle, sheep, bison, etc.)
ReplyDeleteMeat is meat.
ReplyDeleteUp until the beginning of the 20th century, many North Americans ate both dog and squirrel. You can find instructions for skinning and preparing squirrel in early editions of Joy of Cooking.
ReplyDeleteWaiting for someone with a pet pig to chime in here.
ReplyDelete