# How Popular Are Dogs... on a menu? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 3, 2008, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693 "2008-08-03T10:03:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/61 "2008-08-03T18:20:40Z")
[QUOTE=Koxinga] **D** ogs **N** ot **F** ood, ' **T** is **T** rue? [/QUOTE] Very sad! So any forthright opinion is immediately trolling in your eyes, is it? ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/62 "2008-08-03T18:25:04Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] Is anyone still going to tell me there is no ignorance involved in the eating of dog? [/QUOTE] No one told you that in the first place. You’re making a strawman argument. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/63 "2008-08-03T18:35:23Z")
[QUOTE=Gala Matrix Fire] No one told you that in the first place. You’re making a strawman argument. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Švejk] I don’t see how on earth dog eating could be brought on by ignorance, as you argue, [/QUOTE] Švejk reckons there is no ignorance involved…I reckon there is. Are you denying the statements in my quoted post above (#60), indicate a certain level of ignorance? ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/64 "2008-08-03T18:48:49Z")
Lots of people believe in lots of different properties of lots of different foods. Plenty of people believe that oysters are an aphrodisiac. Do you maintain that people \*only \* eat oysters out of ignorance? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/65 "2008-08-03T18:51:49Z")
[QUOTE=DianaG] Lots of people believe in lots of different properties of lots of different foods. Plenty of people believe that oysters are an aphrodisiac. Do you maintain that people \*only \* eat oysters out of ignorance? [/QUOTE] Not all of them. But more than likely, mostly. Tiger’s balls and bears paws don’t make you virile, either. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/66 "2008-08-03T19:05:23Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] I also noticed this in the Wikipedia article If the people who practice this tradition are having doubts, is it surprising that I might have them also? [/QUOTE] You cited Buddhists, who dislike or even reject the eating of meat, and some animal rights-focused Koreans in general, while **HazelNutCoffee** said Koreans have in more recent years begun to adopt the keeping of dogs as pets. I’m a vegetarian, but we can’t say “well, American vegetarians say that eating meat is bad so therefore no one should eat any meat, and you’re all a bunch of backwards primitives to be eating like that.” (Well, some vegetarians say that but they’re assholes, mostly.) And as a vegetarian I’d prefer that no one ate meat but I realize that’s a pie-in-the-sky wish, and I even buy it and cook it for omnivores. My husband is one so I cook meat nearly every day. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/67 "2008-08-03T19:31:37Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] Švejk reckons there is no ignorance involved…I reckon there is. [/QUOTE] Ignorance of what? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/68 "2008-08-03T19:41:54Z")
Generally speaking, humans don’t eat carnivores, at least as staples. It just dosesn’t make sense from a production point of view. The purpose of meat animals is to transform plants into protein, so eating an animal that only conumes meat is adding an unnecessary step to the process. It just doesn’t make caloric sense. If someone already made this point, please ignore. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/69 "2008-08-03T19:43:28Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Ignorance of what? [/QUOTE] Of the actual benefits of eating dog, if there are any, other than it filling a hole in your stomach many other animals could fullfil. As indicated here; > [@](#): > > Although dog meat is eaten in many countries around the world, it is often associated with Korea. It is a misperception that dog meat is a common cuisine in Korea. Although it is true that dog meat is occasionally eaten, it is a dish which is rarely consumed by the general public. The average Korean does not eat dog and the younger generations, in particular, frown upon the practice. **In Korea, dog meat (prepared in a soup) is almost exclusively eaten by men for what is believed to be the health benefits (e.g., stamina).** It seems only the older, more traditionalist Koreans are clinging to this practice, and for pathetic sexual gratification purposes, at that. Is that not ignorance? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/70 "2008-08-03T19:47:56Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] Is that not ignorance? [/QUOTE] Perhaps, but if a complete and accurate understanding of the nutritional benefits of the foodstuffs we consume is required in order to eat them, I daresay the vast majority of the population would starve. Besides, even if there’s no benefit aside from mere nutrition, so what? We (as a species) eat a lot of things that are significantly more harmful to health than _canis familiaris_. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/71 "2008-08-03T19:57:17Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Perhaps, but if a complete and accurate understanding of the nutritional benefits of the foodstuffs we consume is required in order to eat them, I daresay the vast majority of the population would starve. Besides, even if there’s no benefit aside from mere nutrition, so what? We (as a species) eat a lot of things that are significantly more harmful to health than _canis familiaris_. [/QUOTE] I know, but how many of them make you feel you are getting unconditional love from them? Pigs _might_ be able to do it, but I couldn’t strike up much of a relationship with anything else that ends up on my plate. And none of them would be allowed to get on my sofa with me! ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/72 "2008-08-03T19:57:27Z")
Eating dog makes me arf. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/73 "2008-08-03T19:58:21Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] …pathetic sexual gratification purposes… [/QUOTE] Bwah? There is NOTHING pathetic about sexual gratification, and if Fido has to die for me to achieve it… well, that’s life! ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/74 "2008-08-03T20:03:29Z")
[QUOTE=Astroboy14] Bwah? There is NOTHING pathetic about sexual gratification, and if Fido has to die for me to achieve it… well, that’s life! [/QUOTE] Sexual gratification and getting the (rhino)horn, are not mutually inclusive! ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/75 "2008-08-03T20:04:24Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] Of the actual benefits of eating dog, if there are any, other than it filling a hole in your stomach many other animals could fullfil. [/QUOTE] But what’s the actual \*harm \* of eating dog, that doesn’t apply to eating other animals? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/76 "2008-08-03T20:09:39Z")
[QUOTE=DianaG] But what’s the actual \*harm \* of eating dog, that doesn’t apply to eating other animals? [/QUOTE] I don’t know, but Alessan has suggested that humans eating carnivores doesn’t seem to be an optimum process. I suppose you could breed veggie dogs to overcome that, but I’d still turn it down as a dish, unless it was a matter of life and death.. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/77 "2008-08-03T20:14:49Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] I don’t know, but Alessan has suggested that humans eating carnivores doesn’t seem to be an optimum process. [/QUOTE] Except that dogs aren’t strictly carnivores, they’re omnivores, like pigs. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/78 "2008-08-03T20:32:48Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] Švejk reckons there is no ignorance involved…I reckon there is. Are you denying the statements in my quoted post above (#60), indicate a certain level of ignorance? [/QUOTE] D’oh! Missed that one. If only people would get sensible about nutrition and farming methods and [stop eating mammals](http://discovermagazine.com/2008/may/07-want-to-help-the-environment-eat-insects) in favor of the much-more-nutritious[insects](http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2160.html) with which our fruitful planet has [blessed us](http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/32443/title/Insects_(the_original_white_meat)). There is a great deal of ignorance about what we choose to eat based on tradition. And don’t get me started on dairy products. > [@first linked article](#): > > [Guy quoted in article] wants people to move away from getting their protein from traditional livestock such as cows, pigs, and chickens because raising livestock has a huge negative impact on the environment, regardless of whether the animals belong to subsistence farmers in developing countries or a Western industrial conglomerate (see “Warning: Contains Pork By-Products,” page 40). A United Nations report released in 2006 calls the livestock sector “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.” The report notes that, among other adverse impacts, livestock production is responsible for 18 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions. (That’s more than what is produced by transportation worldwide.) And the problem is only going to grow, with global production of meat reaching 465 million tons by 2050, double the amount produced in 2000. > > “Americans have no idea how wasteful these large mammals are,” Gracer says. “If you want to feed a lot of people, insects are the best choice in terms of getting the biggest bang for your buck.” Insects, he claims, are nutritious. Although they typically contain less protein by weight than beef or chicken—100 grams of giant water bugs or small grasshoppers, for example, have about 20 grams of protein, compared with 27 grams in the same amount of lean ground beef—they do have other benefits. For instance, grasshoppers contain just one-third of the fat found in beef, and water bugs offer almost four times as much iron. A 100-gram portion of the cooked caterpillar Usata terpsichore has about 28 grams of protein. In their dried form, as they are commonly sold in Africa, insects such as grasshoppers may contain up to 60 percent protein. > [@second linked article](#): > > Entomophagy (the eating of insects) has yet to become a day-to-day activity for most people in the United States and Europe in spite of the superior nutritional content of edible insects compared to other animals. Other cultures around the world have made insects a main ingredient in their diets, providing an excellent source of protein. Insects are an inexpensive substitute for meat in many developing countries. > [@third linked article](#): > > In fact, the team found that crickets contained more than 1,550 milligrams of iron, 25 milligrams of zinc and 340 milligrams of calcium per 100 grams of dry tissue. Traditional cuisines in developing countries often fall short of the global guidelines for these minerals. Based on analyses of Luo-caught insects, just three crickets would provide an individual’s daily iron requirement. > > Gram for gram, crickets or grasshoppers can be more nutritious than an equal quantity of beef or pork, says Victor B. Meyer-Rochow of Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany. One reason: Water constitutes a high percentage of meat, he says, whereas insects tend to be drier. Many insects also are richer in minerals than many meats, such as hamburger, his data show. And most lipids in bugs tend to be long-chain, unsaturated fats—healthier types than those predominant in conventional livestock. Tell us again about ignorance in eating habits, won’t you? And how we know better around these here parts. ---
**Author:** ![Radaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Radaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Radaga)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/79 "2008-08-03T20:35:46Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] Generally speaking, humans don’t eat carnivores, at least as staples. It just dosesn’t make sense from a production point of view. The purpose of meat animals is to transform plants into protein, so eating an animal that only conumes meat is adding an unnecessary step to the process. It just doesn’t make caloric sense. If someone already made this point, please ignore. [/QUOTE] This is the most consistent point against eating dogs. Other than that, I see no problem in eating dogs, baby seals, live lobsters, whatever, as long as it is tastes good. Exception? Cannibalism might be off-limits, of course, but then again, if someone comes up with something that “tastes like people” (Hufu - Human Tofu, perhaps) I see no reason why not give a try. I am actually curious about what it should taste like. Also if there is some difference between man and woman and among races. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693/80 "2008-08-03T20:38:32Z")
[QUOTE=Radaga] This is the most consistent point against eating dogs. Other than that, I see no problem in eating dogs, baby seals, live lobsters, whatever, as long as it is tastes good. Exception? Cannibalism might be off-limits, of course, but then again, if someone comes up with something that “tastes like people” (Hufu - Human Tofu, perhaps) I see no reason why not give a try. I am actually curious about what it should taste like. Also if there is some difference between man and woman\*\* and among races.\*\* [/QUOTE] Well, I think I’d prefer an Italian to a Chinese! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-popular-are-dogs-on-a-menu/458693.md?page=5)