Could you try that sentence again? It doesn’t make any sense.
We can boycott the things we are comfortable about and not be fanatic about it. Both in USA and Europa, much of the consumer goods are made in China.
We don’t generally cook them alive. Also, I think dogs (and cats) are a bit higher on the sympathy scale wrt humans than chickens (or cows, pigs or goats are). My initial response to the OP was that it is distasteful TO ME that the Chinese do this, but that different people do different things and have different customs as well as differences in what they eat. However, some of the links in this thread about cooking the animal alive are definitely beyond the pale, IMHO, for a companion species like a dog or cat which were bread not to be food animals but to be part of our families. So, I kind of think that OP does have a point after thinking about this a bit more, and that you can’t really compare how chickens are raised in the US to the story in the OP. This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t do more to alleviate animal suffering, even for our food animals, here in the US and in other parts of the world.
I also feel the need to mention the Asian palm civet, which is used to make civet coffee i East Asia.
Pigs should be. They’re wicked smart.
Ok.
Male lions often kill lion cubs fathered by a previous male.
Are you going to argue that a human male is justified in doing the equivalent thing (kill the children of a woman you are dating who are the offspring of a different man) because nature is cruel? :smack:
Realistically, what can we do? I don’t think there’s any way we can pressure China to stop it.
Whether they should be or not (they ARE very smart), the reality is they aren’t. They are considered meat animals, bred for that specific purpose and I doubt there is going to be a movement to bring them in large numbers into peoples homes and make them part of the family.
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Realistically, what can we do? I don’t think there’s any way we can pressure China to stop it.
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No, probably not. Just like the various campaigns to stop the Japanese from killing whales, I don’t see anything like this changing the Chinese minds concerning this or things like rhino horn or tigers paws as aphrodisiacs. But it’s good to be aware that such things are happening and one can always vote with ones pocketbook if nothing else.
I guess my point is that while here in the US we value dogs highly, not every culture does. There’s inherent reason why we should value dogs over pigs.
I would like to see some evidence of the cruel preparation methods before expressing any outrage (better evidence than the unsourced images linked so far.) I mean, if dogs are being tortured, I agree that’s horrible. If dogs are being eaten, oh well. Not my place to tell the Chinese their food animals should be treated better than ours.
I agree as an American I find the idea of eating dogs repellent.
But I totally get I eat animals and dogs are animals so I have no good basis to say people should not eat dogs.
Again, the issue here is the cruelty which is terrible and overt.
As Mijin noted above saying we treat cows or chickens or pigs badly does not make this ok. And as bad as chickens and pigs may have it here this actually seems worse (blow torching live animals and taping their muzzles shut so they can’t cry out in pain or fight back).
I am an unrepentant meat eater. I have no issue with humans consuming meat. I get that being killed is not fun for any creature but I believe there are better and worse ways it can be done and I opt for the humane way in all cases…both here and in China (and everywhere else).
A discussion on whether we should eat only dumb animals is a whole other topic.
People in the USA can pop into any Wal-mart, grocery, general, pharmacy, or dollar store and purchase glue traps for mice and rats or poison.
Both of these lead to absolutely torturous deaths for the animals, from either starvation/dehydration or internal bleeding.
Do mice feel pain less intensely than dogs?
That should have read “There’s NO inherent reason”. Missed an important word.
We value dogs (and cats) over rats, which are considered pests.
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I guess my point is that while here in the US we value dogs highly, not every culture does. There’s inherent reason why we should value dogs over pigs.
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Yeah, I understand the point and it’s certainly valid. Like I said, that was my initial reaction as well until some additional details came out (though I haven’t seen them definitively confirmed at this point or what scale we are talking about). Just like in my whales examples, different people put different values on animals and make different judgements based on cultural norms. And if there are people out there who think pigs are valuable pets and part of the family I could certainly see them being outraged by our treatment of them in the US as food animals (or pests to be shot on sight in the wild…though, honestly, wild boar is pretty dangerous, not exactly fuzzy and cute).
Agreed. However, some folks will point to the US meat industry and say the same thing. I don’t agree with those people but the difference can be seen as a matter of degree, rather than principle.
Here is an article in today’s China Daily. You’ll note that the article states that, contrary to the myth surrounding the source of dogs for the meat, there are dogs are stolen to provide the meat. Be sure to click on the links in the article too.
My personal commentary: There is nothing good, decent, or honest about how dog meat is prepared and served in China, South Korea, and other countries in Asia. The cruelty is extreme and that’s because the myth of “stamina”* requires the animal to suffer. It is not a matter of degree in regards to how dogs are slaughtered in Asia compared to how animals in the west are legally dispatched. In the west, the government endeavors to minimize the animal’s suffering; in Asia, the dogs’ suffering is the entire point of its dispatch. Animals for foods, legal foods that is, in the west are regulated by the government; there are inspections at every stage. In Asia, there is zero inspection of the dog meat “industry”. People who tell you that the dogs destined for the table are from dog farms and are just those bred for that purpose are damn liars; many of the dogs are stolen; and in Korea even the “national treasure” dog, the Jindo, finds its way onto the plate. Oh, and it’s not just dogs in the dog meat restaurants; there are cats mixed in with the meals. And what do the providers of the dogs do at the Yulin festival? They’re planning on doing the same thing they did last year: torture the dogs in front of the protesters so they can jack up the ransom price to have the protesters buy the dogs. Again: the entire point is to cause suffering, and extreme suffering at that, to the animal. How anyone can defend these practices is beyond my understanding.
*And what does “stamina” mean? In the case of eating dog meat or consuming any product from endangered animals, it simply means “gives you a better erection/helps you have sex”. There is zero scientific evidence behind this BS.
To be fair, there isn’t much of any regulation of meat preparation in China. I’ve personally seen goats, rabbits, fish and chickens killed in restaurants for preparation, and many of these animals are sold live at the market. It’s not like dogs are uniquely unregulated.
Oh, I bet there are people who get an erection from torturing animals. We call them “sociopaths”.
That’s not what it means in this context. Here in Asia, it means that consuming the meat from the tortured animal (and the animal must have been tortured for it to be effective) provides some magic (usually called “hormone” or “adrenaline” just to make it sound more scientific) causes a physical reaction in the consumer’s body to give him “stamina”.
Americans have a pecular fascination with dogs and cats. They’re just animals in most other parts of tthe world.