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Friday, April 04, 2008

Korea and Dogmeat

South Korea is the only country where dogmeat is consumed. In fact, every year dogs are consumed by the millions in the country. Frankly, I wish that this notion could spread to the USA - where the pet population is out of control and animal shelters are filled to capacity and we have PETA killing 96% of the animals being "rescued" and we have old celebrities hawking the idea to "spay or neuter your pets" to try and ease the overpopulation.

In 1988, to try and improve popularity with some good publicity before hosting the Olympics, South Korea's capital Seoul banned dogmeat and snakemeat as "abhorrent food." Despite the much-ignored ban, South Koreans still eat between two and four million dogs every year and there are more than 500 dogmeat restaurants in the capital alone.

So what's a government to do?

They're trying to finally classify dogs as livestock.

The whole point of it is that a livestock classification would mean that dogmeat could get the food safety standards of the other meats being consumed in South Korea and protect the health of those eating it. Since dogs are not currently classed as livestock, there are no hygiene regulations on their slaughter at all. I think that even a vegan member of PETA would at least agree that if a slaughter is going to be done, it should be hygienic and regulated for safety.

I, for one, think this is a great idea.

I've always advocated the notion that things made of meat (other than humans) can be eaten. I will admittedly draw the line when it comes to humans - not out of any ethical or moral reasoning, but because that would mean that I could be eaten and that doesn't benefit me in the least. I'm also not that hugely in favor of eating things that could become extinct. However, I do believe that those animals should be bred in captivity like you would on any farm, just to keep the numbers up and set aside a nice fat percentage for consumption.

As for dogs, there's just too many of them running around. SOMETHING's got to thin out those herds. Cars aren't working fast enough, and no matter how many get their gonads removed as advocated by TV celebs, there's three more taking its place and breeding like crazy. The same goes for cats, but they're not as meaty as dogs. Perhaps a cat breeding farm could genetically create some meatier cats that aren't running and jumping around so much that their becomes stringy and tough; that's a possibility in the future. But we should be eating dogs.

It's certainly more humane to slaughter a dog in a hygienic and regulated facility and harvest the USDA-regulated meat to feed a low-income family than to inject it with poison and dump the carcass in a dumpster.

If you don't agree, you're obviously a member of PETA.

(The article about Korea and their dogmeat)


Anonymous said...

Would you site where you got the info that PETA kills 96% of rescued animals? I'm not a PETA fan by any means, but that fact shocks me. With all the independent rescue groups run out of houses, how does PETA know to go in and put them down?

AaronBSam said...

Technically, it's 97% I believe. I first heard that number on the TV show Penn & Teller's Bullshit on the channel Showtime. Then I went to the website www.petakillsanimals.com and they lay the numbers out for you in a neat little chart on this page.

As for the information itself? It comes directly from the Online Animal Reporting form that PETA has to fill out for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The numbers are right there.

Surrendered by Owner: 3,043.
Euthanized: 2,981.

Don't pay attention to "Other" and "Reclaimed by Owner" - those numbers report on PETA's spaying and neutering practices.

Anonymous said...

Those stats are for the state of Virginia only.
It shows they took in 9637 animals, and eunthanized 2981. That is about 31%. Still a very high kill rate, but comprable to most shelters. Also one state's stats don't speak for the whole organization. Again,I am not a PETA fan in the least.. but stats from an anti PETA site that makes it look like one state's records reflect the whole organization? Anti PETA is fine by me, but polishing the article and the numbers to lie to the public steals all of their integrity, and consquently your own.

AaronBSam said...

Because you apparently don't read, we're only talking about the 3,000 animals taken in as being "rescued" - not the 6,000 that were brought in to be spayed or neutered. They obviously aren't going to take your dog to have it neutered and then decide to just kill it instead (well, they might, but I don't think that they have). The category of "Other" is NOT for them rescuing animals, just having them in their care for the surgical procedure. 97% of the animals they TOOK IN to OWN - those were euthanized. And I believe that PETA only has one official location - its headquarters in Virginia. Which is why it's only one document for the whole organization.

And if you think that killing 97% of the animals they "rescue" is horrible - that's just the tip of the anti-PETA iceburg. I have many other posts about PETA's insane actions - and many more to come as long as this group of idiots is allowed to continue their slaughter.