Would You Eat Dogmeat?

April 3, 2008

I'm a huge pet lover and even though I'll eat just about anything, I'm pretty positive I couldn't knowingly order up dog. However if the Seoul city government has its way, dogmeat could be reclassified as livestock and will legally appear on menus in South Korea. Right now it appears illegally and there are no hygiene regulations regarding slaughter. So tell me, could you ever order dog?

To see the graphic photo the comments are referring to — and warning, you probably won't want to do this near lunch time, or if you're a huge pet lover — click here.

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104 Comments

mojogae 5 years 5 weeks

Yum- I wish you'd done a bit more research before proclaiming that all Koreans (a "whole culture" in your words) think it's okay to eat dogs. It's an animal abuse issue absolutely, but dog meat is something that is kept on the menu, so to speak, mainly because of tourists who read things like this and go seeking golden retriever soup, some to eat it, many just to tell people they were able to see people eating it. It's considered a delicacy with magical medicinal benefits, and so it tends to be something that older wealthy men in Korea will sometimes seek out. BUT it is entirely untrue that you can walk through Seoul and see dog markets or dog restaurants mixed right in the with the KFCs and McDonald's. I lived in Seoul for many years, and as I had no interest in viewing or eating dog- I never once came across it. I have no doubt that it would be only too easy to find it, but you do have to be looking. You know what most dogs in Seoul are doing? Riding around in people's large handbags. Most people love dogs, as companions, and there is a real movement to make sure the unfortunate ones who don't get to be companions are treated more humanely. It would be so much more beneficial to point this out, instead of xenophobically declaring that an entire nation likes to eat puppies. Please do some more reading before you continue to perpetuate myths like this one. You could start here: http://www.koreananimals.org/info/cho1.htm http://www.koreananimals.org/info/kerr1.htm Thanks.

aoitenshi 5 years 6 weeks

I live in the Philippines and about 0.5% of the population eat dog here, and even cats. I personally find it icky because these are the sorts of animals that you normally treat as pets. I'm a meat eater though, and I've even eaten frogs.

BeamerCG 5 years 6 weeks

If I was in one of the countries that served dog, I see no problem with it. Other cultures are revolted by the stuff we eat. I don't see the problem with the picture. The only thing I think is revolting is that someone is dressing up a dog like a person.

campgirl84 5 years 6 weeks

My boyfriend's brother went to Thailand last year and accidentally ate dog. Through the thick accents, he thought they were offering him "frog" and only found out later that the street peddlers don't sell frog meat. Ewww.

Ultress 5 years 6 weeks

a number of you have self identified as vegetarians. so fine. you don't partake of meat in any form. that i respect. another number of you have expressed disgust at the mere thought of dog meat which is also fine but for those of you who think you're taking the moral high ground on this one, let's proceed with a reality check: 1. legalizing dog meat in south korea would regulate something that's currently in shambles. the slaughter of dogs is currently done either by beating or hanging/strangulation. regulation would put an end to this (and ostensibly the theft of strays and pets for food). 2. because it is the cultural norm to coddle your pup and treat it like a person here, doesn't mean it's the cultural norm everywhere. this does not make american culture superior to other cultures. 3. if you are one of those who expressed moral outrage at the eating of dogs and you're not vegetarian...is all the meat and poultry you buy organic, grass fed & free range? because if you have any illusion that Tyson treats its chickens better than south koreans treat the dogs they eat, you are sadly mistaken. beef in this country, unless it it is organic, grass fed (NOT grain fed), free range, and antibiotic free you're virtually assured that that animal lived a life of tortured suffering and was traumatized (and sometimes abused) in the process of slaughter. Poultry--same boat. if you've got a problem with dog meat, you should have a problem with eating all meats. i'm a little disappointed that so many still in 2008 demonize what they don't want to bother understanding. (i guess it didn't help that the yum post was light on information and heavy on sensationalism.)

juicylove 5 years 6 weeks

ew, never! and after reading some comments im curious about the picture but i cant bring myself to click the link.

Pepper 5 years 6 weeks

NEVER!!!!

AmberHoney 5 years 6 weeks

Who said anything about eating our pets and I don't have children cause I don't like the taste.

CollegeGirl 5 years 6 weeks

No way in (you know where)! I have to go hug my puppies now!

Arianna K 5 years 6 weeks

Unlike the definition of what a child is, a pet is subjective. As mentioned above, there are people who have pigs for pets. Don't misconstrue what Swift was trying to say in "A Modest Proposal." The piece was written as a satire targeting illogical schemes to fix society in one blow and how people of the time viewed the poor.

kitson 5 years 6 weeks

Has anyone read "A Modest Proposal"? If you think it is so logical and fine to eat our pets, what about our children? When does the rationalization stop and the understanding begin? Anything can be weighted out in your mind, all it takes are a few fancy words to make you think twice about the intelligence of the person you are listening to.

JaimeLeah526 5 years 6 weeks

NO way

Darling Nicki 5 years 6 weeks

Boy am i glad i didnt click on the link to see the picture, i dont think i would have been able to handle it.

Arianna K 5 years 6 weeks

"this is just terrible! it's 2008 and South Korea isn't exactly a developing country, so wtf...vietnam is definitely a much more impoverished country, and I know that dogs are eaten there by people simply because there isn't really anything else and they're starving...but i just can't understand this for a country that isn't struggling in the same way...plus, maybe it's just me, but I'd think that they would want to distance themselves as far away from that stereotype of "dog-eaters"..." Wow. Talk about getting slammed. I joined to say something on this--especially seeing as it appears there's only one Korean to actually say something. I'll repeat what was said previously: the current state of how and which dogs are slaughtered in Korea is not exactly up to par. THAT is why the S. Korean government is trying to "have its way" (by the way, coupled with the image, I think this article is actually written in a very leading manner--come on, posting a cute dog asking if we'd eat him, using diction like "have its way" like it's an egregious thing they're attempting to perpetuate). I won't elaborate on how things are done right now because it actually is a little more graphic than previously described. With regulation, all of that crap can be eliminated. There's another controversial subject that I could draw parallel to, but I'll avoid explicitly stating that one because we all know no one truly likes talking about it. The point is, I'm surprised at how ill-informed a lot of these reactions sound. They're trying to legalize it because there ARE people who like dog meat (let he without sin cast the first stone--I've had dog meat myself, and it wasn't bad. I might add that I have a pet dog that I dote on obsessively), but the way the industry is right now is shambles and wreckage. Regulation NEEDS to happen. For those of you who think we're barbaric for eating yet another animal--please, spare the dramatics. Yeah, you're right, a lot of us are sick of the "dog-eaters" stereotype--but only because you see us as bad for it. You cow-eaters. I apologize if I sound brusque and peeved, but frankly, I'm sick of people looking down on us for something like this.

AKirstin 5 years 6 weeks

Heh, I *knew* I would be in the minority here.

kdramaddict 5 years 6 weeks

It's so funny because everyone is like "It's okay to eat dog meat in South Korea" but I don't think people understand what a general statement that is. I'm Korean, and like all the Korean people I know are horrified of dog meat. Even in Korea, you have to be pretty thick-skinned to be able to eat that stuff. A lot of Korean people are surprised when a fellow Korean chooses to eat dog meat because, unlike what a lot of people seem to imply in their comments, Korean people actually do have dogs as pets. An interesting fact that people should consider is that many of the dogs slaughtered for consumption are taken from the streets of Korea. They can be stray dogs or even just dogs that have run away. In the case of the latter, many Korean dog owners feel exactly the same as the people who have commented on this article, but the situation is that much more cruel and horrifying because it's their own dog. As for the stray dogs that are usually taken to be slaughtered, these dogs are not the dogs that people think of when they associate dogs with their own puppies and such. These dogs are wild dogs, probably carrying some sort of disease, and capable of attacking any person that it comes across. I'm not justifying anything, because I personally think that helping these dogs would be a way better alternative to eating them. But then again, we live in a society that can be cold, inhuman, or just plain lazy. That goes for both S. Korea and the U.S. So, I'm just saying that the issue is much more complex than people think.

junglelove 5 years 6 weeks

I don't think I could eat dog but I've been culturally programmed. Cows are sacred to some and we consume and inhumanely slaughter cows too. It's subjective. To each his own.

Ho Chi Minh 5 years 6 weeks

BermudaGrass Quote: "this is just terrible! it's 2008 and South Korea isn't exactly a developing country, so wtf...vietnam is definitely a much more impoverished country, and I know that dogs are eaten there by people simply because there isn't really anything else and they're starving..." I'm sorry but this is rubbish the people of vietnam are not starving! Some of them eat dog because they like it. I can't say I find the taste appealing but wrapped in lemon grass leaf and chewed with a bit of lemon grass it is bearable, definately an aquired taste and is often eaten with a strong pungent sauce which I think contains the musk of water beetle.

Lovely_1 5 years 6 weeks

Ew no!

Ultress 5 years 6 weeks

come on people. meat is meat. dog's aren't an endangered species and IT'S PART OF THE CULTURE THERE. so get over it. while culturally dogs are pets here, it's not the case the world over--the moral outrage over this is small minded and typical of why we're "ugly americans" to other people around the world. yumsugar--i hope all the moral outrage won't prevent you from posting other controversial topics in the future.

amh678 5 years 6 weeks

Absolutely not.

jennjennnbubba 5 years 6 weeks

nope, no dog eater here

Just Oh 5 years 6 weeks

Way to stir the pot, YumSugar! I would probably go out of my way to avoid eating dog when visiting countries where that is a normal practice. Dogs may be treated like livestock in South Korea and elsewhere, but I'm just too uncomfortable with the idea of eating a creature that has been selectively bred over the past couple thousand years to be man's companion rather than man's food to tuck in.

Jude C 5 years 6 weeks

Wasn't there a picture of a roasted guinea pig on a spit on here a while back? I don't remember anyone getting upset about that--and that's a pet in our neck of the woods as well. Again, I'd never eat dog (or guinea pig)--I do have that cultural block against it, even though, hypocritically, I do eat beef, pork, and poultry--but I think the posters here who pointed out that that's just a cultural difference and the morality relative have said it best.

laurenmarie01 5 years 6 weeks

I could see how some people could get bent out of shape about an unexpected picture like that... but a lot of you gals have to lighten up and open your eyes to the rest of the world. A lot of different customs and cultures (and foods!) are far from what would be considered close to "normal" in America. That being said, I don't think I'd go out of my way to try it (like others, I don't really care for gamey meat), but "when in Rome..." Different cultures are just that - different. They're livestock, not pets. Besides... there's a lot of 4-H kids that work with all different types of livestock, raising them from babies and giving them names, and then end up eating them if they aren't goo enough to go to the fair. [From the "Poultry Slam" episode of This American Life. (thislife.org)]

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