[BJungNan]

We spent a couple months in China and the markets were sad places. Cats and dogs, even kittens and puppies in cages waiting for someone to decide they were dinner. Plus the carcasses of dead dogs and cats that had been skinned were hanging by meathooks. It was amazing.

We went to the zoo in Guanghzou and in a cage, on display, right across from the panda display, was a German Shepherd. We decided they must have caged him to keep him from getting eaten, LOL.

We took a drive through American and saw a cow farm where the cows were side by side in a fenced area, no grass, no way to roam...we saw a chicken farm. The chickens were in cages, stacked one on top of the other. The chickens never set foot outside the cage...We saw a mink farm where thousands of minks were to be killed, not food but to wear.

What is your point?

[Lake]

Hindus worship cows and they treat cows like God, but Americans eat cows.

[thepitts]

All true, And I have no idea why some people think they have the right to impose their beliefs on other people.

[goodieD]

Great point~! I'm really tired of this attitude of "if it's cute, we won't eat it" attitude. Dolphins are sacred but tuna is fair game. Cats are out, but cows and chickens are in. If one is hungry enough, one will eat it. Animals have many purposes other than pets, that includes food and apparel. I wouldn't eat my own pet unless I was starving, but I would never rule out tasting dog or cat at least once.

[Pylot]

Great illustration.

Our own very famous Lewis and Clark, in their discovery of the continent, came to prefer dog over buffalo, elk, deer and anything else that was available.

[dawn53]

I really didn't have a point. No condemnation of China from me as in order to feed that large a population, you use whatever you've got, I guess. Hey, there were also insects, reptiles, rodents and all sorts of other stuff for sale.

Just thought it was curious that animals we consider "domesticated" ended up on the dinner table, or in a zoo. I don't know many people who keep cows, chickens or minks in their homes, so that is why I view dogs and cats as domesticated. Maybe you can housetrain a cow, I don't know, LOL.

We ate dog and cat, not to mention snake and probably a few rats while we were there. But coming from a western country there is a bit of culture shock when you see what you consider to be domesticated animals being slaughtered for food. Not that we in the US don't kill lots of dogs and cats that are abandoned at our pounds. It's just the food aspect of it that was unusual.

Of course, in the same market we saw tiger paws and rhinocerous horns, but that's a different issue.

[B4Ranch]

a cow farm where the cows were side by side in a fenced area,

This is a 'feed lot' where the cattle are fed different grains to fatten and change the taste of the meat. A grass fed cow has a yellowish fat, a grain fed cow has white fat. This is the meat hat is common in stores. The flavor of meat is determined by the taste of the fat that is within the meat.

[4Freedom]

Two wrongs make a right in Korea?

There's the difference. That's why the people of the far eastern cultures can't thrive without large infusions of cash and assistance from the West.

They're savage and cruel societies. There's no respect in China for human life. Why should they respect the life of a dog?

Here in the West, if you see cruelty being committed, there's action you can take. We have laws to prevent cruelty and the perpetrators are prosecuted.

If you and your family can't see a difference in raising common farm animals and killing them humanely and stringing a dog up by it's neck and beating it to death, in front of a cage full of other dogs, you don't belong anywhere near the United States.

When was the last time you heard of a cow dragging a baby from a burning building?

When was the last time you heard of a chicken that saved a child from drowning?

I pity you.

[NC_Libertarian]

I'm not begruding them their right to eat dogs, as disgusting a practice as it is, but nobody should be torturing animals first, either directly or via their living conditions.

[HennepinPrisoner]

Exactly...I find it ironic that people over here that eat cow beef are willing to criticize other cultures that happen to eat dog.

To each his own. Bon apetit!

[SandfleaCSC]

Difference is that a dog is a COMPANION, not a food animal. They have been bred for thousands of years to make them useful, loyal, and intelligent. Come over to my house one day, watch how my bulldog stays at my little brother's side when he visits and shepards him around the yard and house. I refuse to spout that foolish PC line "its just their culture". Bull, its sick and depraved and I have NO respect for any culture that condones it.

[paulsy]

"Good for them. I could careless if they decide to eat dogs or not."

"What is your point?"

i think what gets me is this: "The dogs would struggle, howl, urinate and bleed till they become unconscious. Finally, they are chopped into pieces. All these are done in front of other dogs awaiting the same fate."

IF true this just is not right.

[Intimidator]

I don't have a problem with people eating dogs or cats, to each his own. What I do have a problem with is the way they are killed. I am an avid hunter and believe that we owe it to the animal to kill it in the quickest way possible. When I take a deer I put a 30-06 bullet straight into its vitals. The deer rarely lives longer than 30 seconds for a good hit.
Beating an animal to death is just plain cruel.