To wonder how eating dog meat is any different to eating any other kind of meat?

[xiaozhu]

Just that, really.

[carabos]

It isn't, it's cultural.

[ditavonteesed]

it isn't realy but I don'd often cuddle cows on my sofa of an evening.

[Contraryish]

Do you mean meat from dogs or meat for dogs to eat?

[Kampeki]

What carabos said.

[xiaozhu]

I mean meat from dogs

[NotSayingImBatman]

I think it is different, actually.

Dogs are a huge part of the development of our society. They protected us before we had modern means to protect ourselves, they hunted with us in the days before farming when we lived kill to kill, they've shown immense loyalty, love and devotion for thousands of years.

Cows, not so much.

[Sallystyle]

It isn't, logically.

But dogs are cute and we have them as pets.

I am a hypocrite though because I could never bring myself to eat Deer because I think they are so beautiful.

If you are talking about actual dog food then I would say there is a difference because eating dog meat would be gross

[GobblersKnob]

It isn't really, we are just very disconnected from the awfulness of the animals lives and deaths that we consider it okay to consume. Once you engage with that it is very difficult to continue to eat the cooked or raw flesh of any animals.

[BathshebaDarkstone]

Part of it is that dogs eat meat, we don't usually eat carnivores. Apart from that, it's because we have them as pets.

[fairyfuckwings]

Dogs eat their own shit so I would probably liken eating dog to eating a rat.

[xiaozhu]

Heh. Although I used to steal the dog's food when I was a toddler, apparently. Really pissed off the dog.

I can see why some people would be squeamish about eating an animal they consider to be a pet. But there's been a lot of very virulent criticism of people in other parts of the world for eating dog meat - along the lines of 'these people are so barbaric etc' - and I find this hypocritical given the western practice of eating intensively-farmed animals kept in tiny cages and pumped with antibiotics...

Just wondering if there's more to the criticism than simple sentimentality about dogs.

[xiaozhu]

And for those who say we don't eat animals who eat meat, what about pork?

[DamsonInDistress]

It isn't. If you eat meat then you eat meat. It's just a social construct.

[ConferencePear]

Eating dogs is different because animals raised for meat have their health monitored throughout their lives.
This isn't true of dog.

[iwantgin]

I thought you meant eating a tin of Chappie .

People keep horses as pets. You can eat those.

Fish too. Fish eat other fish too.

[PacificDogwood]

Of course it's not any different.
It is entirely cultural.
It's like asking a Hindu whether there's a problem with eating beef.

And I say that as a besotted dog lover and PFDog owner

[Shakirasma]

It's not a normal part f out food chain. We eat prey animals, dogs are predators.

[DamsonInDistress]

I totally agree with your point about western value judgements on the type of meat eaten, but animal welfare in many Asian countries is indeed barbaric and dies not compare in the slightest to western standards. And we do not routinely pump farm animals full of antibiotics, that's been banned by the EU for decades. They do however still do that in the States.

[iwantgin]

I won't eat lamb though. They are just too cute.

[SillyStuffBiting]

I struggle with this as I keep chickens as pets yet eat chicken too

[ThumbWitchesAbroad]

I would agree that we don't usually eat carnivores. Pigs are omnivores and aren't generally fed on an all-meat diet, far from it.

But fish - we do eat predatory fish, and we are warned off eating them while pregnant because of the concentration of environmental toxins in their meat - so I wouldn't eat dog either because of the potential concentration of toxins etc. in the meat. (I don't eat pig either, come to that).

[bronya]

Fellow meat eater so more similar in terms of biology. Parasites and disease more likely to pass between them and us. Pigs are omnivores and are forbidden in many religions for that reason.

[PacificDogwood]

Any animal with a name is a pet and can therefore not be eaten.
That is were Jamie Oliver with his piglets and turkeys when wrong IMO.

[bellybuttonfluffy]

With so many news reports highlighting the dog meat trade, I think the thing that breaks my heart the most is the widespread dog theft where dogs which are family pets are stolen to sell into the dog meat trade. I find it easier to think of dogs that are bred for the meat trade or the stray animals that are a big problem in some countries, but to take a pet because apparently they are easier to lure and catch is horrific!