"*Slaughter methods include hanging, electrocution, and beatings with pipes and hammers. Cats are often boiled alive, and dogs are routinely blowtorched to remove their fur and to brown their skin.
The myth being perpetuated by dog- and cat-meat dealers is that the more pain suffered by these animals, the more tender and aphrodisiac the meat is.*"
I realize that this is from an animal rights site and could be biased, so is this description accurate? I could see how beatings with a pipes and hammers would tenderize the meat, but why would it be done while the dogs are still alive?? What effect would an ‘adrenaline rush’ from being tortured have on the meat???
Also take a look at www.koreananimals.org - they’re an animal welfare group IN Korea, and they know what they’re talking about. There is a link on their site to some horrendous photos taken at the Korean markets.
As to why the unspeakably cruel methods are used - the site you quote from says that its “benefits” are a myth. It doesn’t actually DO anything to improve the animal’s meat, but there is a myth perpetuated that the release of adrenaline due to pain and fear causes the flesh to become a stronger aphrodisiac.
Frankly, I don’t believe that even thinking with your d*ck can rationalize this type of abhorrent violence. :mad:
As to why the myth - the story I read what that at one point, dog and cat eating was more widespread because there was little access to meat from cattle (due to economic hardship after the last war, i believe). Then as economic conditions eased and more cattle became available through improved trade and agricultural practices, the dog and cat meat vendors, to preserve market share, began to perpetuate the myth of aphrodisiac benefits in the meat they sold. The “potency” of these properties supposedly increase with the release of adrenaline…
It’s beyond sad. It’s beyond cruel. It’s not subject to “understanding of cultural differences,” in my opinion. It’s unspeakable and it makes me want to hurt those people.
I don’t have time to hunt for a link right now, but I think a search on cnn.com should turn up something. Or search for simliar threads here at the SDMB.
Just personal observation, but I certainly see restaurants that advertise dog meat, in Korean. (Especially with the World Cup coming here soon, advertising dog meat in English is said to be verboten.) I’ve been in one dog restaurant, although for all I know the meat was just mutton or something. It smelled doggy enough. There was no slaughter or torture taking place, but I have heard Koreans say that the dogs are hanged, strangled and beaten to increase the potency of the meat.
That said, I know lots of Koreans who are disgusted by the idea. I know lots more who seem indifferent, and only a few who eat the stuff often. Then again, I don’t know a lot of middle-aged and older men, the ones who might be most worried about their virility. I’ve never heard of the “cat soju” except here on the net, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t here.
Oh, I should clarify: mutton is a lot less common here than dog, except in Indian restaurants; I just said that it could have been mutton because it seemed similar to me in texture. (Yes, I ate some dog soup once, under pressure from a class of businessmen which I no longer teach. I didn’t like it, and it didn’t have any noticeable effect on my virility, which was already okay, thank you very much.)
I also once saw, a long time ago, a large outdoor market with tables bearing what certainly looked like dog carcasses, skinned. It’s my impression that the dog restaurants buy the dogs in this form. I’ve never heard of the dogs being tortured to death in front of the waiting customers, but I can’t say that it doesn’t happen.
No need - it’s common knowledge. I’ve eaten it myself. (And to answer your next question - it’s not like chicken.)
I heard that in Hong Kong (where dog meat is illegal) the traditional practice was to pull the dog’s teeth out just before slaughtering it, on the (to me, rather bizarre) assumption that the meat would be tender. How you get the dog to cooperate, I don’t know.
Koreans definitely eat dog meat, although definitely not very commonly as far as I’ve seen. I’ve been there many times and never actually even seen a place that sells dog meat (although I probably just didn’t notice it). My cousin told me that he once accidently ate some and then threw up when he found out what it was, so it’s definitely not a commonly eaten item.
Just as a matter of curiosity. I am an avid meat eater, and a dog owner. Why (if the animal is killed humanely, i.e. something acceptable in a slaughterhouse in the US), is eating dog or cat wrong? I know people who have had chickens and pigs for pets, and their intelligence or “cuteness” doesn’t make them any less delicious.
I’m Korean and I’ll admit it, I’ve eaten it once too. Wasn’t anything special, just tasted like lamb or something in a thick stew with a lot of spices. Did it make me feel queasy? Not really. I don’t see the difference between eating chicken and eating dog. Who cares if one is kept as a pet? When its dead, its just a hunk of meat. The only debate is if its edible or not.
I do think its quite silly when I hear of businessmen thinking eating dog helps their virility or whatever. In the end, they’ll probably wind up going back to their wives/girlfriends and doing the horizontal mambo for 5 minutes, regardless of whether they ate the dog or not. Koreans are known for their almost fanatical belief in aphrodisiacs/miracle cures so it really doesn’t surprise me to see people still eating dog. (Even if it is technically illegal in Korea from what I’ve read. Not really enforced though.)
I said this in another thread (which I can’t seem to find… maybe lost in the “winter of our missed content”)…
Eating dog meat here is a practice that seems to be fading out with the younger generation, but is still common with some older men. It’s believed to be a “stamina” food (think viagra). I’ve tried it; I was REALLY stinking drunk at the time, so I can’t comment on the taste.
I once had a student tell me “I had a dog once… my uncle ate it!” (true story).
I have heard that the best way to slaughter a dog is to hang it in a bag and beat it to death with a stick, but whether this is actually done, I can’t say… I will say that I do not find it dificult to believe that it is done. The dogs certainly seem to be abused before the slaughter; in Tongdaemun Market you can see these dogs 4 or 5 to a cage large enough for one dog… as well as dog carcases being butchered (I don’t like to see this, myself, but it’s on the way to a used guitar shop that I frequent…).
audiobottle, next time you are here (if you can read Korean) look for restaurants that have signs saying “Boshintang” (dog soup) or “Ke Koggi” (dog meat)… you’ll see them!
For Chronos: (DO NOT click on these if you are queasy… some have disturbing pictures…)
Well… Oddly enough, as an American and animal lover, I kinda agree with you.
I don’t really see a difference either. If you’re killing an animal for meat, does it really matter what type of animal it is? Sure, we see cats and dogs as beloved pets in the States, but Koreans seem to see some breeds of dogs as acceptable meat animals. Who am I to say it’s wrong.
Yes, the slaughter practices that have been mentioned are disurbing and should be discouraged. But those practices should be discouraged no matter what type of animal they are butchering in such fashion. Not just for the cute dogs/cats.
I wonder, do Hindu’s see our butchering of cattle for meat as barbaric and disturbing? (or am I totally off base in thinking they don’t eat cow meat?)
As a deer hunter, I know it’s best to drop the animal with one shot. Wound him and let him run around soaked in adrenaline for awhile and the meat isn’t nearly as good, not to mention it’s just not fair to the animal.
My father in law raises cattle. Whenever he takes one out of his herd for the family’s use, he’ll just walk out in the field and calmly shoot it, thus avoiding the stress the animal would go thru at a slaughterhouse.
I just can’t imagine torture benefiting either the animal or the consumer. Course, I don’t use rhino horn or tiger penis to facillitate an erection either.
Lieu mentioned my first thought in this thread: undue stress on the animal makes the meat tough and gamey, and just generally poorer. Slaughterhouses and hunters both try to kill the animal with a single, quick attack (hammer or bolt gun for slaughterhouse, rifle for hunter), because the animal goes from tranquil to dead without pumping adrenaline and other hormones into its blood.
Beating the dogs to death strikes me as a propagandistic urban legend. I realize that slaughtering operations in general aren’t terribly humane, but there are practical business reasons not to engage in pointless abuse beforehand.
Further to lieu and hansel, beating an animal before it dies will cause ecchymosis (bruising), which is damaging to meat quality and is regarded as a serious defect in commercial meat production.
Just a few points…
(Perhaps the queasy may want to skip over this, as it describes some aspects of slaughtering.)
Don’t know anything about beating your animals. I’ve never heard that it helps tenderize any sort of meat.
However, blowtorching fur away is perfectly normal. I’ve been to pig slaughters before, and that’s just how the fur is removed. To avoid any confusion, the animal is well dead by this point.
Electrocution is not unusal either. Normally it’s used for cattle. You whack 'em on the head with a sledgehammer and then stick some AC through 'em.
I’ve seen pictures of dogs being hung in Photo Magazine (France.) I believe they were taken in Cambodia. I find that a rather odd method of butchering, as throat-slitting is the accepted method for animals the size of pigs or smaller.
A good butcher doesn’t let the animal suffer for long. The pig killings I’ve been to, the animal dies within a minute. No, it’s not particularly fun to watch, and even the butchers I’ve seen don’t seem to enjoy it. It’s like boiling lobsters and other shellfish alive. The chefs I’ve know all hate doing it, but dammit, we like the taste.
As for eating dogs and cats itself. So what? We can only eat ugly animals? Since I am an omnivore, and I’ve seen where and how food gets to my table, I could not ethically justify the eating of beef or pork if I condemned the eating of dog. Hell, if it were put in front of me, I’d eat it.
Most of the uproar over Korean cuisine is over dogs = meat. I have a hard time buying this as legitimate. This thread is the first I have heard about the termination practice (granted it’s been a while since I was there and I don’t spend time discussing PETA-type stuff with anyone). My understanding is that nearly all of the dog consumed in the country was raised specifically for that purpose.
I spent several months in Korea and saw a lot of stuff of the beaten tourist path. Once when hiking through the backwoods a group of us came across a couple of guys and a dead dog. The only “weapon” in evidence was a crude flame-thrower. The dog was charred black…draw your own conclusions.
Dog is certainly openly sold and served in restaurants. I never had any as I lacked the cash (when in Rome…).
A while back there was an article about how some animal rights group got into trouble about the photos of dogs being tortured and butchered before being eaten as it seems that since the group couldn’t find anyone actually doing it, they paid some of the locals to do it so that they could have pictures and use them to drum up money back in the States.
I dated a girl from Vietnam for about three years and according to her, it was only “Vietnamese rednecks” that ate dog and cat.
How is raising dog for meat even financially feasible? Obviously it is or they wouldn’t exist, but I still find it hard to believe.
I’m Korean, I have never eaten or would want to eat a dog and I recently got a Chow Chow puppy. (Yeah, there some irony in there somewhere) I’m probably going to spend at least $200 in just the food alone till she gets to adulthood. Granted I’m feeding her Science Diet, but unless these Korean breeders are feeding them only vegetables, I don’t understand how it pays off. Is dog meat really expensive? That’s the only way I can think of these ‘breeders’ recouping their investment.
