The
consumption of dog meat has been a widely debated topic in 2015. Many people,
especially in Western cultures, wonder how someone could eat a dog, which is
commonly seen as a pet worldwide. I know I could never eat dog meat. However, I
understand that eating dog meat has been a part of some Asian cultures,
especially in China, for centuries. While the idea of eating a dog is repulsive
to me, eating meat of a cow is repulsive to others, like Hindus. All cultures
have taboos for certain types of meat. Why is not always clear, but these
taboos have existed for a very long time.
Why is it
acceptable to me to eat cows and pigs, acceptable to others to eat cockroaches,
and acceptable to some to eat dogs? All of these creatures are edible. Culture
has shaped our perceptions.
Chinese
history has had changing perceptions on whether dogs should be used for meat,
and 2015 seems to be the year where the conflict has erupted into something
much larger than it has been in the past. The Yulin Dog Meat Festival,
occurring since 2009 (much more recently than most people believe), became a
topic hotly debated that caused uprisings worldwide. At the Festival,
approximately 10,000 dogs are killed and eaten to celebrate the Summer Solstice.
Leading up to the festival, animal welfare activists began to speak out against
the Festival for various reasons including dogs’ typical roles as pets, the
inhumane methods of killing the dogs, and the ways of obtaining the dogs. What
began as opposition within China spread to worldwide outrage, especially within
the U.S. and United Kingdom.
 |
| http://collectivelyconscious.net/articles/chinese-woman-pays-1100-to-save-100-dogs-from-chinese-dog-eating-festival/ |
The local
governments of Yulin disconnected themselves from the Festival for a variety of
reasons, and these reasons are also why so many people are against the Festival.
Brutality is rampant in nearly all parts of the Festival. Dogs are often stolen
from homes (many dogs arrive with collars) and are transported over 1,000 miles to
Yulin, a process taking days and often lacking in providing food and water to
the dogs. Safety for these dogs is obviously an issue, and the diseases that
are spread cause a large safety hazard for those who handle and potentially for
those who eat the dogs. The methods of killing the dogs are extremely violent
and inhumane: dogs are beaten, occasionally knocking them unconscious, their
throats are slit, not always killing them, and then they are skinned, sometimes
alive. Little wonder that many people arrived at the Festival to protest.
However, many of these animal activists were attacked, and in some instances
undercover police had to step in.
The main argument of supporters of
the Festival is that many people eat different animals – why are dogs so
different? This argument is valid – as I discussed before, there is a lot of
talk around the taboos of meat eating, and logically, what makes eating dog so
different from eating cow? The main issue I have with the Yulin Festival is not the
fact that dogs are being eaten. The main issue is the violent, inhumane methods
of acquiring and killing the dogs.
Personally, I do not expect China
to stop eating dog meat completely even though it is against my moral code. It
has been a part of their culture for hundreds of years. However, the recent
development of the Yulin Dog Meat Festival is unnecessary and horribly
inhumane. Dogs should not be stolen from their human families to be mistreated
and killed brutally. Hopefully, 2016 will be a year of change and promotion of
animal welfare, especially for the dogs whose live are lost at the Yulin
Festival.
Here are some interesting informational sources on the Yulin Festival:
Chinese dog-eating festival outrages foreigners - http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-32965554
China Yulin dog meat festival under way despite outrage - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-33220235
Chinese dog-meat dilemma: to eat or not to eat? - http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-27952543
Chinese City Defends Dog Meat Festival, Despite Scorn - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/24/world/asia/dog-eaters-in-yulin-china-unbowed-by-global-derision.html?_r=0
Friend or food? Dog meat trade divides China - http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/18/opinions/china-yulin-dog-festival-peter-li/
China's Animal Activists Buy Dogs, Target Restaurant Owners - http://www.ibtimes.com/yulin-dog-meat-festival-2015-chinas-animal-activists-buy-dogs-target-restaurant-1977047
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