Is The End In Sight For The Chinese Dog Meat Trade?

K9 Magazine ^

[MRMEAN]

""calls to make Chinese restaurants dog meat free could be getting through"

China’s animal welfare groups have called for end to dog eating. In what will be an historic and bold move, Chinese animal welfare groups have unanimously called for a ban on dog eating.

Guangzhou, 27 March, 2006-- The first China Companion Animal Symposium took place this March in Guangzhou - the dog and cat eating capital of Asia. This historic advancement in Chinese animal welfare also saw the call for an outright ban on the century’s old practice of dog and cat eating.

Millions of dogs and cats are slaughtered for consumption in China annually. Many suffer deliberate, horrific abuse in the mistaken belief that ‘torture equals taste’. A gaping hole in the law leaves them with no protection.

The meeting brought together 32 grassroots groups from around the country, plus international groups such as Britain’s RSPCA and was called by UK and Hong Kong charity the Animal Asia foundation

The meeting also called for an end to the dog and cat fur trade and the introduction of countrywide de-sexing programmes for companion animals.

Many of the delegates spoke of the horrors they faced daily in their fight to save and house abandoned dogs and the need for laws to protect domestic animals from abuse and neglect.

Guest speaker Professor Song Wei, a lecturer in law at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui province, said, “Abuse cases today always spark huge public outrage. There is much more awareness of animal welfare.”

Guangzhou veterinary surgeon, Dr John Wu, who runs Leader Animal Clinic, said it was crucial to change this way of thinking, now, while the trend of keeping pets was sweeping China’s middle-class.

Jill Robinson, founder and CEO of Animals Asia said the symposium showed that there was a groundswell of change, with community concern for companion animals rapidly increasing and authorities becoming more aware of the need for animal welfare. “Imagine this forum happening 10 or even five years ago - it simply wouldn’t have been possible,” she said. "Caring people in China are speaking out – it’s time to use their voices for change.”

USEFUL LINKS

www.animalsasia.orgree

[digger48]

[dawn53]

We spent a couple months in Guangzhou and have photos of slaughtered dogs, hanging from meat hooks in the open air market. Also photos of dogs and cats in cages, waiting to be slaughtered. When we want to "shock" our friends, we break out the China photo album, LOL.

Seriously, in the Guangzhou zoo, they have a German Shepherd in a cage, right next to the wolf. We joked that that was the only way they could keep a dog from being eaten in Guangzhou.

[BossLady]

Holy Merde! Glad I'm a vegetarian....LOL!

[Cleburne]

I ate some dog in Yunnan last year; it was sort of chewy, like beef a little, but not very good, at least not for what we paid for it. Sorry, dog lovers; it was my way of righting the cosmic balance, having been bitten by a very nasty chow when I was a kid.

I have a picture of a couple of dog heads in a market, which always makes people do a double-take when they look at it. Last fall I was flying back from Dublin and got to talking with a fellow behind me, who was boasting about some of his culinary exploits. Not to be outdone, I got my laptop out and showed him the above mentioned picture, which he got quite a chuckle out of. Unfortunately, a girl across the aisle from me also saw it; she was a stalwart vegetarian and was very deeply mortified, which deeply mortified me (I'm actually a very sensitive sort of guy). But it was still pretty funny, and she forgave me after a moment of shock.

I didn't show her my before and after Chinese frog picture though...(whole frog is not for me, btw)

[mancogasuki]

Had some dog in Korea myself...not that interesting. Prefer snake.

[Armigerous]

....when I was in the import-export business some years ago I got an inquiry from "Double Happy Trading Company" in Honk Kong wanting to know if I could supply 50 lbs of frozen dog penises to make 'precious 3 penis soup'....just no accouning for taste I guess

[org.whodat]

Prefer snake.

Ate some rattle snake at the JC's Convention once, not all that bad. Ate donkey once also and it was pretty good. Shot a few dogs but have never bit one.

[jec41]

Two Chinese visitors to New York kept hearing hot dogs, hot dogs. One said to the other these Americas must like dog too , lets get some. They stopped at a stand and ordered two dogs. They were surprised that the dog was in a bun. One opened his bun to peek and quickly closed it back. He ask his companion, what part of the dog did you get?

[JimRed]

Down to 9 comments and not one "tastes just like chicken" yet?

[imskylark]

"Also photos of dogs and cats in cages, waiting to be slaughtered."

I can't remember where my husband was, I think the Philippines. He said a young American couple were stationed there and saw some puppies in a window. The lady became excited and said she wanted a puppy. They went in, picked a puppy, and the store clerk took the puppy in the back. He returned and handed them a sack of dog meat.

[Northern Alliance]

Dog meat is very big in Korea as well.

Myself, while a dog lover (we have 10 - mostly strays we took in) I don't object to people eating dog, just the really poor conditions man's best friend is subjected to in these countries.

[OKIEDOC]

What the hell is Hillary and Bill going to do if the Chinese dog meat trade dries up.

I didn't know they like baloney in China.

[Daaave]

[mancogasuki]

Down to 9 comments and not one "tastes just like chicken" yet?

About the last thing dog tastes like is chicken. It tastes closer to horse. Which also isn't all that interesting.

[mancogasuki]

Ate some rattle snake at the JC's Convention once, not all that bad.

Yeah...tastes like saltwater eel (anago) which when fresh is awesome.

[luvmypitt]

I think it’s just sick what they do to those poor dogs. They don't kill them quickly ..no they torture them because they think if a dog is tortured the release of adrenaline makes the meat taste better.

SICK !

Unfortunately no amount of laws in Korea will ever stop this from happening. This is a cultural thing and they will always do it.

[uglybiker]

Rats. And I was hoping to get rid of the coyote problem here in the West by starting a chain of 'American Imperialist Dog' resturaunts in China.

(Then I was gong to send the hides to Japan and start a coyote-fur fashion craze....)