《Food Culture Eating Dog Meat》 A CNN News anchor recently mentioned on CNN homepage as follows: In the shadow of the Olympics, a brutal trade in dog meat. He raised the question on the culture of eati

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《Food Culture Eating Dog Meat》 A CNN News anchor recently mentioned on CNN homepage as follows: In the shadow of the Olympics, a brutal trade in dog meat. He raised the question on the culture of eating dog meat again, on the occasion of the Pyeongchang Olympics in Korea. The issue has been debated steadily in the international community. Frankly speaking, mentioning of this problem is a kind of disadvantage to Koreans, because there lacks in understanding among foreigners about the specific Korean food culture.

Actually, the Korean food culture has nothing to do with pet dogs. Quite a few Koreans have pet dogs and love their dogs. Dogs for food are kept separately, just as pigs and cows are managed on the farm. Many people have mistaken, however, it's definitely not that Koreans eat their dogs for food.

I wonder how people think of this: Is it a traditional food culture that we need to respect or still a bad one to be forbidden?

댓글 · 35

I'm not a vegetarian and I've never eaten dog meet. But I see major hypocrisy in eating some animals while judging people for eating some other animals.

I think the problem here is that people tend to see their own culture as superior.

In the movie "Alive", which is a true story, the survivors had to eat their dead human friends

to be able to live. For me eating a dog's meat feels like eating my friend. I'm not even into

dogs, but I know how smart and loyal they can be, so eating them hurts my feelings, same

as eating a horse meat. In my culture we are allowed to eat horse meat, but it's rarely done

because people love their horses and consider them part of their identity and pride.

So unless there is a famine, I don't believe anyone would slaughter their horse to eat it!

Answering your question, SJ, I think it's bad and I truly wish it will be forbidden. I hope you

understand that I don't mean to disrespect you or your culture, but this is really how it feels

to me. The whole idea is judged for a reason, and for me it's the same as eating Balut in

the Philippines or monkey brains while they are alive or even if they are dead right from their

skulls in China, or human fetuses in Taiwan and China which I hope isn't true!

NealC.Thank you for the information. It's true that there is a hygiene issue about dog meat.

By the way, there are a lot of unfamiliar food around the world. People eat termites and mayflies in Nigeria or tiger testicles and baby pigeons in Thailand, or monkey brains, snake liver in China. What about Foie gras made of goose liver that is well- known for the inhumanity for human appetite? Foie Gras is one of the cruelest food in the world, however, gourmets admire it as quite a beautiful dish.

As far as my own personal opinion, I hope eating dog meat will decay in Korea little by little, so that this kind of wasteful controversy wouldn't be repeated. .

I live in the U.S. To me, it is in a strange grey area, like bullfighting.

On the one hand, I am not vegan and I eat a normal American diet, including the meat of animals like cows (beef), pigs (pork), and sheep (lamb). All of these animals are mammals with well-developed brains, social structures, and I believe the consensus among scientists is that they are conscious, experience emotions, and feel pain.

On the other hand, I don't know how well-established the science is, but there is evidence that dogs and humans have a special evolutionary relationship that is not the same as that of other domestic animals; they have coevolved. Dogs have a special understanding of human emotions and human social structure, and vice versa. That puts them in a different category from other mammals.

The fact that they are "kept separately" doesn't really carry much weight with me. We would not accept cannibalism even if humans were "kept separately" and specifically raised to become meat.

On the whole, I fall back on "who am I to judge?" Different countries, different customs. I can't draw any bright line between eating pigs (which are at least as intelligent as dogs) and eating dogs.

I'm pleased to know most people aren't judgemental about eating dog meat and have reasonable attitudes.

Korea was a traditional agricultural community, and had bred dogs as livestocks just as pigs and cows, while some European societies were nomadic comunities and dogs were like their companions that helped people's hunting. As you can see, from the start, the cultural background was different from each other, as far as dogs are concerned.

So, I understand what Western people think of dogs based on the historical, cultural backdrop. Similarly, I hope people can understand other cultures, before being critical and disgusted.

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