Dog Meat
Here is a subject which shines a great huge spotlight onto speciesism - dogs. Those that happily tuck into plates of body parts from practically any other species recoil at the idea of eating dogs. This inconsistent behaviour highlights some subconcious revulsion at eating individuals, because that is surely the problem, that people have come to know and have a relationship with a dog so that they are now seen as individuals and not a faceless herd member ready to be murdered and consumed. This thinking will also feed the cultural stigma of the idea of eating dogs that puts canines off the menu even for the most ardent ‘not a dog person’.
The truth is that all animals are individuals and when people make this connection they find it harder to eat them - ask any vegetarian.
Push for more dog meat on menus
THE Seoul city government is seeking to classify man’s best friend as livestock in order to set food safety standards for South Korean lovers of dogmeat.
Somewhere between two and four million dogs are estimated to be consumed in South Korea every year, but the slaughtering and processing is carried out in dirty environments and poses a risks to diners’ health.
Since dogs are not currently classed as livestock there are no hygiene regulations on their slaughter, officials said.
“Dogs are consumed in their millions in this country every year. That’s a fact. We have to take care of this situation,'’ said Lee Hae-Woo, head of the city government’s department of food safety.
“We plan to recommend to the central government that dogs are classified as livestock,'’ he said.
“This is like a hot potato, but we don’t pretend the issue does not exist.'’
South Korea’s capital has always been ambivalent about dogmeat. To avoid adverse publicity before the 1988 Olympics, the city banned dogmeat and snakemeat as “abhorrent food”.
The order is now largely ignored and an estimated 500 dogmeat restaurants operate in Seoul alone.
