# Do people in Asia really eat dog and cat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 2006, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-asia-really-eat-dog-and-cat/372514 "2006-09-13T07:56:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-asia-really-eat-dog-and-cat/372514/21 "2006-09-13T18:29:01Z")
[QUOTE=psychonaut] Perhaps you’re not aware, but the Korean peninsula is divided politically into two states, both of which claim to be Korea. One country is a state-capitalist dictatorship, and the other has a less regulated economy with more political democracy. In Western parlance one commonly refers to the two states as “North Korea” and “South Korea” (though those aren’t their proper names) in cases where it is necessary to distinguish between them. One such case is when speaking of laws respecting the consumption of dog meat, since each state has its own jurisdiction. [/QUOTE] I am aware. Which is why I said the “right” Korea. As in, “the Korea that the rest of us are talking about”. Your post seemed to be contradicted **Monty** ’s statement that dog meat is illegal. You claimed that it couldn’t be illegal in Korea because the regime and strict law enforcement would not allow an illegal activity. Regardless, it’s more than semantics. If someone is talking about South Korea, you can’t come in and say “Well, in _some_ parts of Korea it’s perfectly legal” when those “other parts” are the country to the North. It would be the same if someone was talking about a law in South Carolina, and you said “well in some parts of Carolina, that is not illegal. I know because a travel agency in Raliegh told me”. > [@](#): > > In Western parlance one commonly refers to the two states as “North Korea” and “South Korea” (though those aren’t their proper names) Well, “Korea” isn’t their proper name either. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-asia-really-eat-dog-and-cat/372514/22 "2006-09-13T19:27:36Z")
[QUOTE=Bear\_Nenno] Your post seemed to be contradicted **Monty** ’s statement that dog meat is illegal. You claimed that it couldn’t be illegal in Korea because the regime and strict law enforcement would not allow an illegal activity. [/quote] No, my point was more like it couldn’t be illegal in (all of) Korea because Korea isn’t a single legal jurisdiction. My comments about the regime and strict law enforcement were with reference to Pyongyang. > [@](#): > > If someone is talking about South Korea, you can’t come in and say “Well, in _some_ parts of Korea it’s perfectly legal” when those “other parts” are the country to the North. True, but nobody claimed to be talking about South Korea. The poster to whom I was replying referred only and rather ambiguously to “Korea”. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-asia-really-eat-dog-and-cat/372514/23 "2006-09-13T20:00:12Z")
It’s not ambiguous when his location says Busan. Maybe you didn’t notice. Hell, I failed to notice “Pyongyang” in your post, and that was in English! ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-asia-really-eat-dog-and-cat/372514/24 "2006-09-13T22:50:00Z")
[QUOTE=psychonaut] It is perfectly legal in many places in Korea. [/quote] Actually, it’s not. It’s perfectly illegal in South Korea. Dog and cat are not classified under the law as foods. The dogs served at the illegal but widely-accepted restaurants here come from two sources and two sources only: illegal dog farms and stolen/homeless pets. > [@](#): > > I’ve read many travelogues where the writers told about being served dog in Pyongyang restaurants. Given the totalitarian regime and strict law enforcement, it’s practically unthinkable that the government would allow such restaurants to operate (and cater to tourists, no less) were dog meat illegal. Perhaps you need to bone up on your geography. Pyeongyang is the capital of North Korea. I live in South Korea. For your edification on the “industry” here: From [Korea Animal Protection Society, “The Treatment of Dogs in Korea”](http://www.koreananimals.org/dogs.htm): > [@](#): > > The Ministry of Agriculture defines dogs and cats as pets and not livestock. From [Dog Abuse in Korea](http://www.idausa.org/campaigns/korea/korean.html): > [@](#): > > Where do the dogs come from? > > Thirty percent are stolen from families that love them. Most are homeless dogs, captured by butchers and sold in open markets. From [It’s Their Destiny](http://itstheirdestiny.2kat.net/): > [@](#): > > Incredibly, not only are dogs and cats butchered for their flesh, but tortured beforehand in the belief that this improves the flavour and the “medicinal” qualities of the meat. So, no. It’s not perfectly legal here. And it’s not a tradition going back hundreds of years here either. The thing that keeps the “industry” going is the myth that the tortured, burned, and skinned alive animals will provide more “oomph in the sack” for those who consume the poor critters. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-asia-really-eat-dog-and-cat/372514/25 "2006-09-13T22:55:01Z")
BTW, North Korea currently (well, for a while now) has a problem with people starving. Some of those people have turned to cannibalism. I hope nobody’s going to try to tell me that it’s legal and/or traditional in North Korea to consume human. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-asia-really-eat-dog-and-cat/372514/26 "2006-09-13T23:24:47Z")
[QUOTE=e-logic] it’s only modern farming methods where animals are cooped up in a small space that forces them to live in their own crap. [/QUOTE] Only a really bad farmer would let the wastes from his animals build up so badly that they live in it. Are the animals on a farm likely to be dirtier than a house pet? Sure. But forcing them to wallow in filth would only increase the risk of stressing them, getting them infected, transmitting parasites, injuring themselves or others, or any number of undesirable things that interfere with growth or production and, in the end, lose the farmer money. The whole point of keeping animals in pens with concrete floors is to be able to keep the place cleaner and decrease the incidence of disease. Not all modern agricultural practices are evil, and not all old-school agriculutral methods are best for the animal. Each one has pros and cons that have to be carefully evaluated. Sorry to continue the hyjack, but it’s sort of a hot button issue with me. Please continue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-asia-really-eat-dog-and-cat/372514.md?page=1)