General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEating dog becomes big business in Asia
"I know it seems weird for me to eat here when I have my own dogs at home and would never consider eating them," says Duc Cuong, a 29-year-old doctor, as he wraps a sliver of entrails in a basil leaf and takes a bite. "But I don't mind eating other people's dogs." He swallows and clears his throat. "Dog tastes good and it's good for you."
No one knows exactly when the Vietnamese started eating dog, but its consumption primarily in the north underlines a long tradition. And it is increasingly popular: activists claim up to 5 million of the animals are now eaten every year. Dog is the go-to dish for drinking parties, family reunions and special occasions. It is said to increase a man's virility, warm the blood on cold winter nights and help provide medicinal cures, and is considered a widely available, protein-rich, healthy alternative to the pork, chicken and beef that the Vietnamese consume every day.
Some diners believe the more an animal suffers before it dies, the tastier its meat, which may explain the brutal way dogs are killed in Vietnam usually by being bludgeoned to death with a heavy metal pipe (this can take 10 to 12 blows), having their throats slit, being stabbed in the chest with a large knife, or being burned alive. "I've got footage of dogs being force-fed when they get to Vietnam, a bit like foie gras," says John Dalley, a lanky British retiree who heads the Thailand-based Soi Dog Foundation, which works to stop the dogmeat trade in south-east Asia. "They shove a tube into their stomach and pump solid rice and water in them to increase their weight for sale." Nguyen has a simpler method for bumping profits: "When we want to increase the weight, we just put a stone in the dog's mouth." He shrugs, before opening up his cage for another kill.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/27/eating-dog-vietnam-thailand-kate-hodal
snooper2
(30,151 posts)bunnies
(15,859 posts)and killing of "food" animals. Surely there will be outrage over this because we're talking about dogs. But torture is acceptable when speaking of cows, chickens, pigs, etc. Ive never understood the complacency on the issue.
LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)Personally it doesn't matter to me, killing animals is still killing.
bunnies
(15,859 posts)Most people are not going to stop eating meat. I just wish people would demand that the animals are treated and killed humanely. It would probably take a serious boycott to get the companies to change, though. And like I said earlier, not enough people give a damn.
samsingh
(17,598 posts)I find this treatment disgusting
As disgusting as the treatment of the other animals I mentioned. It should all be criminal, imho.
LuvNewcastle
(16,846 posts)A guy I worked with dated a Vietnamese girl and he told me they ate a Chow dog one time. He said it tasted like lamb. We have several Vietnamese restaurants in this area and when I eat at one of them, I stick to the seafood.
samsingh
(17,598 posts)superpatriotman
(6,249 posts)What is it with eastern cultures and their lack of virility that they must kill and eat everything from shark fin to rhino horn to tiger balls to beautiful dogs?
All to get hard