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Another 'wtf' thread! This isn't ok?

154 replies

Stellenbosch · 06/08/2018 14:16

"killing dogs to eat and consuming their meat is legal in Britain"

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6030759/Campaigners-call-Theresa-ban-eating-dogs-Britain.html

OP posts:
LeroyJenkins · 06/08/2018 14:47

I'm a meat eater, and while I'm not sure if I would say dog, I don't see a difference between animals, obvs not someone's pet of course

missbattenburg · 06/08/2018 14:48

I think the distinction is, as missbattenberg says, one of domestication.

Yep, we've literally bred this animal to be 'hooked' on humans in a way that cows just aren't.

Breeding over generations for an animal that bonds with (loves?) us makes it seem a bit... psychopathic, to then eat it. To me, anyway.

raisinsarenottheonlyfruit · 06/08/2018 14:49

No it's not OK. That's why I'm vegetarian.

Killing another sentient being (e.g. a dog, cow or pig) to eat is pretty disgusting if you think about it.

I don't usually go on about this but seeing as you asked!

Those of you who think eating dog is disgusting but not pig - this is simply because you haven't been desensitised to eating dog.

Pigs are more intelligent than dogs, can make great pets and bond with humans, just like dogs. The only difference is in our culture we eat pigs not dogs.

The revulsion you feel about eating dog is what many vegetarians / vegans feel about eating any meat.

ppeatfruit · 06/08/2018 14:50

No one has mentioned that meat eaters also eat lambs, chickens, venison etc. dogs are meat after all.

In Fr. they eat horse and the unwanted horses are better cared for there than they are in England.

raisinsarenottheonlyfruit · 06/08/2018 14:51

Domestic cows are "hooked on humans" in other ways - hence being domesticated.

They've been bred to be docile. The wild animal they're descended from wasn't at all docile!

They do feel pain and fear though. And sorrow at being separated from their calves. They are not just walking hulks of meat. They are mammals with brains and emotions. They think, bond and feel.

Bazzlebear · 06/08/2018 14:52

Is it wrong for the dog to kill a rabbit? Or a cat to kill a mouse?

Slightly off-topic but this is an argument people bring up often. I'm a biologist and am very aware of natural food webs etc. My response would be that:

a) We don't need to eat meat, dogs (arguably) and (especially) cats do

b) As humans what sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom is (supposedly) our level of consciousness, morality, compassion, and intelligence. If we are to uphold that difference (I assume no one thinks it would be ok to kill humans for meat?) then we should uphold it fully. Humans do not follow nature, because we know better- nature is brutal, cruel, painful and indiscriminate (but does at least follow the rules of natural selection). Humans claim to be the opposite of those- until they fancy a roast dinner.

raisinsarenottheonlyfruit · 06/08/2018 14:53

What Bazzlebear said!

PeckhamPauline · 06/08/2018 14:55

There is a huge distinction between livestock, and domesticated animals that have become our pets, working partners (guide dogs, police horses, etc) and in many cases members of the family.

Surely even those with a modicum of human 'intelligence' can understand that.

raisinsarenottheonlyfruit · 06/08/2018 14:56

Also, dogs and cats don't keep rabbits and mice captive from birth, in an artificial environment, steal their children and milk or fatten them up then slaughter them, denying them any kind of free life.

So, not really comparable.

AjasLipstick · 06/08/2018 14:57

Goat you said Eating another meat eater seems pretty gross.

What do you think chickens eat? They bloody LOVE meat if they can get hold of it and commercial chicken feed is often with meat or meat based products included.

Flashingbeacon · 06/08/2018 14:58

I don’t get the donestication argument either. Dogs have been bred to be pets but dogs bread for meat don’t know they are meat dogs anymore than cows do! I hate putting human emotions on animals. Which is not to say that animals don’t have feelings. I am more outraged that the current government has decided that animals don’t feel pain or fear.

I say all of this as a meat eater.

raisinsarenottheonlyfruit · 06/08/2018 14:58

There is a huge distinction between livestock, and domesticated animals that have become our pets, working partners (guide dogs, police horses, etc) and in many cases members of the family.

The distinction isn't the animal's aptitude though - it's purely our culture. The difference between a pet pig and a farmed pig isn't biological, is it?

What you're saying is a similar argument to saying slaves weren't really human. The difference is only in how they are treated by human society, not in any inherent aptitude.

AjasLipstick · 06/08/2018 14:58

Peckham

AjasLipstick · 06/08/2018 15:00

Cows, sheep, goats all show love. And Peckham you mention livestock...which includes horses. Do you think horses don't show love? Would you eat a horse? They eat those in Italy quite routinely.

I don't judge meat eaters at all and I eat chicken myself...and fish...but people who try to distinguish between animal species irritate me. They all have capabilities to show love. Even chickens.

If you're going to get upset about dogs being eaten (and I LOVE dogs and have a pet dog) then at least show cows etc the same love.

RedPony1 · 06/08/2018 15:01

I don't get the hand wringing here. Same as that petition to ban a dog eating festival in China confused WTF does it have to do with you if people eat dogs in CHina I always wonder.

You do understand how horrific and barbaric that festival is, don't you? The petition is little to do with them eating dog meat, but all that happens before that part.

I wouldn't eat dog, just like i wouldn't eat a horse, but i am a meat eater and i don't care what other people eat :)

RobinEggs · 06/08/2018 15:01

I don’t think morally it’s any different from eating a lot of other animals. Pigs are hugely intelligent and no one gives a shot about them being terrified. Cephalopods are really developed too - there are lots of restrictions in regards to research on them, but we happily munch away on them.

I like dogs and I eat meat. I wouldn’t eat dog for the same reasons I wouldn’t eat shellfish - to me I consider them dirty. I wouldn’t eat any other carnivore either.

I don’t understand the uproar about this. I especially don’t understand the uproar about people in a far away country’s eating an animal that they’ve always eaten. Why the fuck should we get a say about that?

AnneLovesGilbert · 06/08/2018 15:03

Absolutely Bazzlebear, you're so right.

PurpleTrilby · 06/08/2018 15:03

I read somewhere that some dog breeds are used as a livestock, ie meat animal, by feeding them only a rice based diet, so they are not meat eating animals that are bred for consumption. I think that was in China, but it may be a more historical thing. So that would address the issue of eating only veggie animals, as we do with cows, pigs etc (if they are fed properly, I well remember how BSE and nvJCD came about). I don't have a problem with it, if we're talking stock animals and not pets, what is the difference between a dog and a pig? Nothing much, and I eat the usual meats, so it would be pretty hypocritical to have an issue with eating dog meat.

On the subject of pets, I once had professional reasons to correspond with someone who was very interested in the word pets. He said it doesn't really occur in languages other than English, or more precisely the concept of pets, as opposed to working animals. A quick check showed that 'domestic animal' is a common translation of pets. Anyway, so what, how would people feel about all the Hindus launching petitions to stop us eating cows? They are all clickbait, by the way, those petitions. If you click on the horrific ones about abused animals, the click farm gets say, 0.01 of a penny, but that adds up quickly. They are always about animals in foreign countries, so a) a petition here will have zero effect, we don't run the world, and b) you're actually paying the abusers to keep posting stuff like that. Oh and c) I don't want to see that crap on my fb profile, it's upsetting and useless.

RobinEggs · 06/08/2018 15:03

ajas I’ve never known a chicken show love Confused. Mine are always trying to get me to shag them (I don’t) but they’re not showing me love. Because they’re chickens.

PeckhamPauline · 06/08/2018 15:05

Same as that petition to ban a dog eating festival in China confused WTF does it have to do with you if people eat dogs in CHina I always wonder.

I assume you're talking about the Yulin dog meat festival—the one where people's pet dogs are stolen and skinned or blowtorched while still alive to satisfy this "custom" (which started in 1989, incidentally).

IDontEatFriedTurtle · 06/08/2018 15:06

There is a huge distinction between livestock, and domesticated animals that have become our pets, working partners (guide dogs, police horses, etc) and in many cases members of the family.

The difference is that we as a people decided to be meaner to live stock from the start. I don't see why it makes it more OK to eat them? Confused

It's completely specific to yrou culture which animals are food animals and which are pets anyway.

SO if you go to South America is it OK to eat the guinea pigs because they were always meat animals or is it not because European shouldn't? It's stupid.

EIther meat is OK or it isn't.

hackmum · 06/08/2018 15:07

"Is it wrong for the dog to kill a rabbit? Or a cat to kill a mouse?"

The very best of luck in trying to persuade animals to adopt and adhere to a moral code.

PeckhamPauline · 06/08/2018 15:11

The distinction isn't the animal's aptitude though - it's purely our culture.

I disagree. Dogs and horses particularly have aptitudes that other animals can't even come close to.

HelpmeobiMN · 06/08/2018 15:12

There is a huge distinction between livestock, and domesticated animals that have become our pets, working partners (guide dogs, police horses, etc) and in many cases members of the family. Surely even those with a modicum of human 'intelligence' can understand that.

The only difference is cultural - you're socialised to see dogs as different to other animals. And that's fine in respect of the choices you make - no one is suggesting that you should be made to eat dogs just because you'll happily eat cows.

But there isn't really a moral difference. An animal is an animal, whether it's a Great Dane or a Gloucester Old Spot. Pigs have high levels of intelligence and empathy. Cows and horses are social animals which form strong personal bonds, both with each other and humans. Even chickens have the same thriving impulse to keep on living that any other sentient creature has.

It's alright for you to feel icky about eating dogs. But don't blame others for having different cultural standards. And don't see your meat consumption as morally superior to theirs just because you think a dog is more special than a sheep.

PeckhamPauline · 06/08/2018 15:12

"Is it wrong for the dog to kill a rabbit? Or a cat to kill a mouse?

Our dog knows he will be in big trouble if he kills a rabbit, so he doesn't do it.

Cats are not trainable in that way, but because their natural instinct is to kill rodents they became valuable to humans.

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