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

[xiaozhu]

Just that, really.

ThumbWitches Apparently the Australians have developed a vaccine against it - do you know much about that?

I'm not an expert on pig farming at all - I only know about this because when you deal with these cases, you end up with a strangely in depth knowledge of the surrounding circumstances.

I think the Danish emphasis is on measuring the skatol content and they installed measuring devices at all slaughterhouse to ensure the meat would be suitable for consumption in all European markets without castration. And that they considered chemical castration or vaccine unnecessary if that was done, and also because it induced needle phobia, anxiety, stress and so on, as well as additional chemicals, all of which can taint the meat too, as well as reducing the quality of life of the pig.

Basically, if you want pleasant tasting meat, you ensure that it lives as stress free a life as possible, including up to the moment of slaughter, and that it eat rather nice untainted grains and grasses. Adrenalin produced by fear and anxiety is a particularly strong chemical (you can smell it in animal's sweat and faeces).

Well I broadly agree that if it's ok to eat cows it's ok to eat dogs.

If the dogs were treated humanely prior to slaughter and were killed with the minimum of suffering I wouldn't have a leg to stand on, given that I'm a committed carnivore.

However as photographs and video footage prove, these creatures suffer horribly and unnecessarily and worse still, plenty of onlookers enjoy themselves hugely, judging by the moronic grinning and photo taking that goes on.

I think it's pretty clear that anyone taking part in this "festival" is basically sub-human.

Does anyone know if dog meat is available in the UK?

I agree with DoraMarstella. In principle eating dog is ok. In reality these dogs are tortured as much as possible before they die, and that is truly disgusting.

TBH I have given up eating meat this year because I detest our methods of farming and killing our own farm animals in this country.

Man and dog have such a close bond, I think that's why so many find it very upsetting to know they are eaten in places like China and Vietnam. Worse than that though is the way that these poor dogs are tortured. The Chinese for some stupid crazy reason believe that torturing these animals before death creates adrenaline which will make the meat more tender and tasty. They don't treat dogs like living, breathing, feeling animals, they have no respect for them whatsoever, I mean look how the dogs are thrown all together in cages or nets. Many break limbs when this happens, many of them suffocate to death. They are given no food or water and have to often endure long journeys in these conditions. Then they have to lie and watch and listen to other dogs being tortured and murdered, knowing it will soon be their turn. It is sick, barbaric, totally inhumane and totally wrong on all levels. Those who eat the meat are just as bad as those who murder the dogs in my opinion. China has a terrible record for animal cruelty, the dog meat trade is just a small part of it. The bear bile farms are even more horrendous in my opinion as the moon bears are trapped in cages and have the bile drained from their gallbladders for years on end because the Chinese believe it has medicinal purposes which is just nonsense. Some of these bears have been known to commit suicide such is the extent of their suffering. I just hope that in time, China will change the way it views and treats animals, but I think it will be a long time.

Yulin is about eating dog meat for good fortune.

Yet the area that Yulin is in has the highest rates of cancer in all of China. It certainly doesn't look like fortune has come to Yulin.

Also birth defects are high in that area.

Not saying there is a link but if you accept that meat eaters in general suffer more cancers than vegetarians or vegans then meat from dogs that are clubbed then skinned whilst still alive and can see there kennel mates being skinned alive the resulting meat must be tainted with huge amounts of cortisol.

So in some ways the poor dogs have got their own back. You killed me so now I will kill you.

Excellent news about the bad health of the dog eaters.
Brilliant. Serves them right.

The op was asking what the difference between meat and dog meat.

It appears whilst meat might not be great for you, dog meat appears to be a hell of a lot worse.

Why does China insist on the animal testing of cosmetics that Europe have deemed safe? Loads of companies would now be cruelty free if it were not for selling in China.

Seems to me that they don't give two shits about animals suffering and appear to have no animal welfare laws whatsoever. In fact, it is widely known that they love to make animals suffer, so that the adrenaline makes the meat taste better. They eat weird body parts in the stupid, backward belief that these parts have some kind of magical powers, for example bear bile. The lives of these animals are in fact a living hell.

Its as if they see animals as non living beings. How can they do what they do, listen to the screams of fear and pain and carry on? I see the people who think it's ok as hard, and not having feelings like I do. They mustn't have, can't have.

I am vegan so eat no meat, and I hate the way animals are killed in Uk slaughterhouses because it is never without cruelty, but we cannot be compared to what they do in China.

I think that things may start to slowly change for the better and charities like IFAW do their best but it still begs the question, why are these practices seen as normal in places China?

As for the original question, eating dog meat, in itself is no worse than eating pig. BUT dogs are domesticated, and some of those in China have been actual pets...so yes, it is worse. It's sick.

OP what do you have to say about the video that lady posted at 18.49 on Tuesday?

Wonder what happened to the op?

OP, you can 'Daily Mail' all you like but I have seen photos of dogs in a huge vat of boiling water, without fur and struggling to get out. It was from SOI Dogs, a rescue charity in Thailand. Have a look at their website.

Only yesterday in my inbox was a picture of a dog with a piece of wire round its snout so tight that it's nose was bright red, bleeding and blown up like a balloon.

It's not the dog meat eating per se, it's the cruelty involved in the way they are kept and their slaughter; the belief that adrenaline at the time of death makes the meat more tender.

We don't think all Chinese/Thai/Korean/Phillippine people are cruel. But there needs to be more exposure and above all, more education.

It's not the dog meat eating per se, it's the cruelty involved in the way they are kept and their slaughter

^ THIS

I think its different to eat a dog than to eat a cow or pig.

As others have said, dogs have co evolved with humans and show great loyalty and love for humans.You don't get that from other animals.

I would never go to China. Sounds like an awful place.

I don't see any difference, it's the cruelty of the conditions that food animals are kept in that infuriate and upset me more. if they were all given a good quality of life before slaughter, it's still meat obtained by killing an animal.

Different cultures of course have different socially acceptable norms. The problem with societies that eat dogs is the horrendous, stomach churning cruelty that the often stolen family dogs suffer needlessly before they are butchered, often inhumanly and slowly. If your culture eats dogs then that's not for me as a meat eater to argue. But it's how you treat the animal and then go onto kill the animal that I have a major problem with.

People that do not ee the difference between eating a dog and another animal clearly have never owned a dog.

They are intelligent and loyal and loving.

Dead puppy song.

One of the few times it's been vaguely relevant on here.

'They are intelligent and loyal and loving.'

I agree, and so are pigs. We shouldn't eat either of them, even though they are a good source of protein and fats and easy to keep and breed.

I am sickened by the capacity of people to be so cruel to animals.

I agree, it's the level of cruelty involved before their deaths, not what happens afterwards that shoud be the main issue for farming.

The Chinese belief in the medical efficacy of rhino horn to make their dicks hard has also led to the explosion in rhino poaching in Southern Africa. Some of these rhinos have their horns hacked off while still alive.

The OP thought this thread had died a death. But as it's come back to life, two things:

That video is horrendous - I had seen it before, in fact. It did the rounds on social media in China a while ago (and watchers were horrified, by the way). But I never denied things like that go on in China (as well as the rest of the world), and it's absolutely correct that more education/publicity is needed to stop things like that. What I am saying, though, is that it is not common (hence the shock and outrage at that video when it was circulated in China) and the vast, huge majority of Chinese people think that this treatment of animals is terrible.

Which leads me to my second point: what I really, really object to is comments that start with 'they all think [this]', and 'it sounds like an awful place, I'd never go there'. That's just tarring 1.3 billion people with one big fat bigoted brush, just because of what some Western news outlets choose to focus on. Yes, the Yulin dog meat festival is grim, but there is a massive protest movement against it in China which goes to show that 'they' don't 'all' think that torturing animals is OK. And those protesting against it must feel pretty passionately about it, as protesting is a pretty risky thing to do in China.

In fact, I should add that one of the biggest problems in China is indeed lack of regulation of animal welfare - the government is not interested.

But most Chinese people don't publicly campaign for it because of what I've already said: protesting and lobbying the government in China is a dangerous game. Social media has definitely helped get the message across, but Facebook, Youtube, Twitter etc are banned and Chinese social media outlets are monitored and censored. Any hint of a coordinate, non-government approved movement tends to be nipped in the bud. So it's unfair to criticise them for not doing more to change things - many people are doing what they can under the circumstances.