Eateries in Chinese town hold dog meat festival amid outcry

[Bonam]

One more point. All of those saying we do the same thing should inform the authorities of these slaughter houses they've seen where the animals are deliberately tortured and terrorised.

What part of being in a "slaughter house" isn't torturous and terrifying, exactly?

Eating dog meat is no different than cow meat or pig meat. The people that object to it do it on a purely irrational, emotional basis because they are accustomed to thinking of dogs as cute and cows/pigs as meat. It's nothing more than trying to impose your complete arbitrary cultural preferences on others.

[bush_cheney2004]

...Eating dog meat is no different than cow meat or pig meat. The people that object to it do it on a purely irrational, emotional basis because they are accustomed to thinking of dogs as cute and cows/pigs as meat. It's nothing more than trying to impose your complete arbitrary cultural preferences on others.

Agreed.....we use to eat cooked "monkey on a stick" that was sold just outside the U.S. naval base at Subic Bay, PI. Delicious !

Protein is protein....protein doesn't care about culture.

[AngusThermopyle]

What part of being in a "slaughter house" isn't torturous and terrifying, exactly?

Eating dog meat is no different than cow meat or pig meat. The people that object to it do it on a purely irrational, emotional basis because they are accustomed to thinking of dogs as cute and cows/pigs as meat. It's nothing more than trying to impose your complete arbitrary cultural preferences on others.

So Bonam, given your vast experience of these places you should be reporting them. After all, according to you these creatures are being inhumanly tortured. You should be reporting all these places that are maximizing animals pain and terror, dragging their deaths out as long as possible. The fact is that when instances of miss treatment do come to life they are dealt with. Last year three that came to light were dealt with promptly. One was a Veal production facility, another was a dairy facility and the last was a poultry factory. There in lies the difference some of you just don't seem to get. We have laws in place to make the process is as humane as possible. Admittedly there is still a long way to go but there are people who are working on it And that is what separates our process from others. We (some of us anyway) care about this and are doing what we can to improve it. Others don't care and even do their best to make it more sadistic and inhumane. Still don't get it do you?.

As to your cultural strawman you bring up. How is being abhored by deliberate cruelty, inhumanity and torture a cultural preference. Is it that you too are pretty cool with the whole idea of deliberately inflicting prolonged torture on another living creature? If decrying torture is, as you put it, a cultural preference then I'll take it and stick with it. However your cultural reference falls flat when you realise that people around the world decry these practises. So by your and BC Chicks metric the Chinese who oppose this are racist and culturally biased?

Also interesting, if you bother to do any research at all on this subject, is the fact that this particular "festival" has apparently only existed for about the last ten years. It was not instituted as a traditional cultural festival, but purely as a for profit event. How does that fit with your culture crap?

[WWWTT]

We regulate cannibalism. I'm sure some would like to practice it yet we say that you cannot eat this type of meat due to moral issues. So why can't we make it law that one is not allowed to eat dogs and cats?

I guess it would be because only humans have rights?

Beyond that I do not know.

WWWTT

[marcus]

So Bonam, given your vast experience of these places you should be reporting them. After all, according to you these creatures are being inhumanly tortured. You should be reporting all these places that are maximizing animals pain and terror, dragging their deaths out as long as possible. The fact is that when instances of miss treatment do come to life they are dealt with. Last year three that came to light were dealt with promptly. One was a Veal production facility, another was a dairy facility and the last was a poultry factory. There in lies the difference some of you just don't seem to get. We have laws in place to make the process is as humane as possible. Admittedly there is still a long way to go but there are people who are working on it And that is what separates our process from others. We (some of us anyway) care about this and are doing what we can to improve it. Others don't care and even do their best to make it more sadistic and inhumane. Still don't get it do you?.

As to your cultural strawman you bring up. How is being abhored by deliberate cruelty, inhumanity and torture a cultural preference. Is it that you too are pretty cool with the whole idea of deliberately inflicting prolonged torture on another living creature? If decrying torture is, as you put it, a cultural preference then I'll take it and stick with it. However your cultural reference falls flat when you realise that people around the world decry these practises. So by your and BC Chicks metric the Chinese who oppose this are racist and culturally biased?

Also interesting, if you bother to do any research at all on this subject, is the fact that this particular "festival" has apparently only existed for about the last ten years. It was not instituted as a traditional cultural festival, but purely as a for profit event. How does that fit with your culture crap?

So would you be okay if the slaughter of dogs are done according to "humane" standards set for cows and pigs?

[marcus]

We regulate cannibalism. I'm sure some would like to practice it yet we say that you cannot eat this type of meat due to moral issues. So why can't we make it law that one is not allowed to eat dogs and cats?

Pigs are as intelligent and emotionally complex as dogs and cats, if not more. Are you going to revisit your moral standards?

[Canada_First]

Pigs are as intelligent and emotionally complex as dogs and cats, if not more. Are you going to revisit your moral standards?

I do not eat pork. But many Canadians do and always have.

[WWWTT]

Agreed.....we use to eat cooked "monkey on a stick" that was sold just outside the U.S. naval base at Subic Bay, PI. Delicious !

Protein is protein....protein doesn't care about culture.

That's funny you say that because I heard that an excellent source for protein is insects,maggots and bugs!

Apart from bees, butterflies, dragonflies and possibly a couple of other species, nobody gives a ratts ass about bugs or their well being. So why aren't they on more menus?

If insects ever became a popular food, I doubt it that people would be up in arms over how they are treated. I don't even know how they can possibly be mistreated? But with new info, I can change my view?

WWWTT

[WWWTT]

As to your cultural strawman you bring up. How is being abhored by deliberate cruelty, inhumanity and torture a cultural preference. Is it that you too are pretty cool with the whole idea of deliberately inflicting prolonged torture on another living creature? If decrying torture is, as you put it, a cultural preference then I'll take it and stick with it. However your cultural reference falls flat when you realise that people around the world decry these practises. So by your and BC Chicks metric the Chinese who oppose this are racist and culturally biased?

Also interesting, if you bother to do any research at all on this subject, is the fact that this particular "festival" has apparently only existed for about the last ten years. It was not instituted as a traditional cultural festival, but purely as a for profit event. How does that fit with your culture crap?

Ok I get it, you are passionate about animal rights.

And until I can further show something, I have to agree that China is not as advanced when it comes to animal rights.

However I still stand by my claim that Asians simply do not eat as much meat as North Americans/Europeans!

Now if we take away the treatment of animals, how is this event going on in Guangxi different than a rib fest going on in London?

WWWTT

[Guest]

Coming late to this thread. It is possible to eat meat that has been humanely reared and killed. At home it's the only kind of meat we eat. (Caught on the road without breakfast, I can't speak for my bacon and egger)

The more people do it, the more such practices will become the norm.

The idea of eating dog is abhorrent to me because of my cultural attachment to the animal. I daresay if I was hungry, and it was all there was, I would eat dog.

That said, the barbarism of the Chinese festival, while fairly alarming, could probably be matched in some of the slaughterhouses in this country. PETA put out a video every now and then.

[cybercoma]

I sure as hell wouldn't want to eat dogs, but I can't really say it's any different than eating pigs, cows, or chickens. They're all sentient beings. Guinea pigs are pets here and they were originally farmed for meat in South America, still are to this day. I can't be an omnivore, eating the flesh of one animal and then being a hypocrite and faulting someone for eating the flesh of a different animal.

[drummindiver]

Good on you for acknowledging the double-standard. The outrage is ethnocentric and, well, a bit racist when you take the blinders off.

lol

Now we're racist if we object to the torture of dogs in China.

Not that dogs have been companion animals for thousands of years, as opposed to beast of burden. It's that we're racist. Check.

[BC_chick]

Duplicate post. See below.

Edited June 24, 2015 by BC_chick

[BC_chick]

However with due respect to BC Chick there are some of us who think we are superior to Chinese because of how they treat their animals they eat but we should take a closer look at what we eat here in Canada as well to understand how we kill t he animals we eat. Slaughterhouses are not places of love and moral superiority is the point she was making. Kind of hard to point your finger at another when it drips blood.

That was exactly my point. Thank you Rue.

[Derek 2.0]

Agreed.....we use to eat cooked "monkey on a stick" that was sold just outside the U.S. naval base at Subic Bay, PI. Delicious !

Protein is protein....protein doesn't care about culture.

In Olongapo? Never tried monkey, "but heard" with $20, one could get a catfish sandwich on a sugar bun, a case of San Miguel and a $**T River Queen.........Different strokes, for different folks makes the World go around

[bush_cheney2004]

In Olongapo? Never tried monkey, "but heard" with $20, one could get a catfish sandwich on a sugar bun, a case of San Miguel and a $**T River Queen.........Different strokes, for different folks makes the World go around

$20 went a long way in the 1970's.....especially in Olongapo. After eating balut (duck egg embryo in shell), some people would welcome some dog or cat meat instead. Throw some pennies in the open sewer "Sh_t River" and watch the kids dive in to retrieve them.

[On Guard for Thee]

$20 went a long way in the 1970's.....especially in Olongapo. After eating balut (duck egg embryo in shell), some people would welcome some dog or cat meat instead. Throw some pennies in the open sewer "Sh_t River" and watch the kids dive in to retrieve them.

I assume that was one of your favourite ugly Merikun pastimes.

[marcus]

I do not eat pork. But many Canadians do and always have.

Some Canadians eat pork and some Canadians, apparently, eat dogs. Both dogs and pigs are smart and emotionally complex. Both are legal to eat.

[marcus]

Here is an example of our moral superiority and humane treatment of animals.

warning: graphic

Edited June 24, 2015 by marcus

[Bonam]

Coming late to this thread. It is possible to eat meat that has been humanely reared and killed. At home it's the only kind of meat we eat. (Caught on the road without breakfast, I can't speak for my bacon and egger)

Humanely killed?

How exactly do you kill something humanely?

Humane: having or showing compassion or benevolence.

In what way is it compassionate or benevolent to slaughter an animal? Minimizing the amount of pain caused does not make the act of killing humane. If someone killed you in a relatively painless way, would that be a humane act? No, they'd still be a murderer. It is an act of complete hypocrisy to think that killing living thinking creatures for food is a "humane" act towards those creatures, and to act all morally superior to those who kill their meat animals in different ways.

The more people do it, the more such practices will become the norm.

If all meat had to be raised in the way that people call "humane", it would be an expensive luxury available only to the rich. The amount of land and resources to do this is far higher than more efficient methods, and there is only a limited amount of land and resources available to produce food. Food producing land has to become ever more productive as populations grow, not less.

[WWWTT]

If all meat had to be raised in the way that people call "humane", it would be an expensive luxury available only to the rich. The amount of land and resources to do this is far higher than more efficient methods, and there is only a limited amount of land and resources available to produce food. Food producing land has to become ever more productive as populations grow, not less.

I have used this debate position before. (this debate isn't new to me)

In rural China, as in other rural areas around the world, Canada included. Firearms or other methods are not available to make the job of harvesting an animal for food easier.

So what are the people supposed to do? Starve? And just because someone else apparently has a higher moral ground? This is prejudice against class.

The other point you make is also very true!

It is inefficient to grow food to feed an animal, then harvest the animal for food. Just grow the food and eat the f'n food for f's sake!

But having said that, I can see why eating meat is necessary in northern climates or areas where food can not be grown year round to provide food everyday as required.

In other words, it's easier to eat less meat when you live in warmer climates such as India or China that can grow a large variety of crops required to supplement nutritional requirements our bodies demand.

WWWTT

[Guest]

Humanely killed?

How exactly do you kill something humanely?

Humane: having or showing compassion or benevolence.

In what way is it compassionate or benevolent to slaughter an animal? Minimizing the amount of pain caused does not make the act of killing humane. If someone killed you in a relatively painless way, would that be a humane act? No, they'd still be a murderer. It is an act of complete hypocrisy to think that killing living thinking creatures for food is a "humane" act towards those creatures, and to act all morally superior to those who kill their meat animals in different ways.

If all meat had to be raised in the way that people call "humane", it would be an expensive luxury available only to the rich. The amount of land and resources to do this is far higher than more efficient methods, and there is only a limited amount of land and resources available to produce food. Food producing land has to become ever more productive as populations grow, not less.

I hope it's possible to humanely kill something because I plan on availing myself of assisted suicide should the need arise.

I humanely killed my dogs. (Well, the Vets did, but I asked them to)

As for the raising, it is an expensive luxury, no doubt about it.

Edited June 24, 2015 by bcsapper

[Canada_First]

I eat free range, organic and non hormone raised meats that we get from local farms only. Beef, lamb, chicken,rabbits, Bison etc etc etc... It's not that expensive to do if you plan for it.

I decided to do this because I didn't like the way that the big feed lots and slaughterhouses do things. I didn't want to support or be part of an industry that's mean, hurtful and cruel.

[Hudson Jones]

I eat free range, organic and non hormone raised meats that we get from local farms only. Beef, lamb, chicken,rabbits, Bison etc etc etc... It's not that expensive to do if you plan for it.

I decided to do this because I didn't like the way that the big feed lots and slaughterhouses do things. I didn't want to support or be part of an industry that's mean, hurtful and cruel.

Being free range doesn't mean that the animal will not suffer when it's about to be slaughtered.

What if those who want to eat dog meat are able to also get free range, non-hormone dog meat. Will you still be saying we should ban eating dog, while eating your bacon?

[WWWTT]

So, apparently this is something still pretty common in China.

One more point. All of those saying we do the same thing should inform the authorities of these slaughter houses they've seen where the animals are deliberately tortured and terrorised. That way we can shut them down ASAP, which we will do when this information comes to light. So come on, step up, report these places.

Ok I found a link that speaks directly to the debate!

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/protest-against-the-yulin-dog-meat-festival-but-dont-forget-the-19m-animals-who-are-brutally-slaughtered-in-the-uk-every-month-10336898.html

So let me ask you Angus. What if I complained in Ontario about this that I have pasted below

Most meat and dairy-eating critics of the Yulin festival have said it’s not the fact that animals are being killed, but the “barbaric” way it’s done. So by that logic it would be acceptable if: the puppies were suffocated and ground up alive as soon as they are born, their throats were slit and their testicles cut off without anaesthetic, or the female dogs were forcibly impregnated so that the puppies could be slaughtered and the dogs could be hooked up to a contraption to extract the milk – when they stop producing milk they’re murdered. Because these are all accepted, “humane” practices from the British meat and dairy industries.

Would something be done in Ontario, or would I be labelled an eco terrorist?

WWWTT

Edited June 25, 2015 by WWWTT