Dog meat


 * This article is about meat taken from dogs for human consumption. "Dog meat" can also refer to food intended to be eaten by a dog (dog food). For the record label, see Dog Meat Records.



In some countries, apart from being kept as pets, certain breeds of dogs are raised on farms and slaughtered for their meat. Dog meat may be as an alternative source of meat or for specific medicinal benefits attributed to various parts of a dog. In parts of the world where dogs are kept as pets, people generally consider the use of dogs for food to be a social taboo. Though the consumption of dog meat is generally viewed as taboo in Western culture, some Westerners support the right to eat dog meat and accuse other Westerners who protest against dog eating in other countries of cultural imperialism and intolerance. Joey Skaggs, for instance, organized a hoax in the USA in which a fictitious Korean restaurant asked for dogs to be made into dog meat in order to expose the alleged intolerance of those opposed to dog-eating. Others, however, oppose the consumption of dog meat in non-Western countries, particularly Korea. They perceive dogs as inherently emotional and friendly to humanity, not traditionally eaten (in Korea and elsewhere), and slaughtered in an excessively cruel manner.

In Islamic culture, eating dogs is also forbidden, as dogs are carnivores and as such are haraam under Muslim dietary laws.

Cultural attitudes, Legalities, and History
Cultural attitudes, legalities, and history regarding human consumption of dog meat varies from country to country. Very little statistical information is available on attitudes to consumption dog meat.

Arctic and Antarctic
Dogs have historically been an emergency food source for various peoples in Siberia, Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland. Sled dogs are usually maintained for pulling sleds, but occasionally are eaten when no other food is available.

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen famously ate sled dogs during his expedition to the South Pole to survive. By eating some of the sled dogs he was able to transport less dog food, thus lightening his load.

Canada
Although consumption of dog meat is not part of mainstream Canadian culture, it is practised by some cultural minorities. In 2003, health inspectors discovered four frozen canine carcasses in the freezer of a Chinese restaurant in Edmonton. Subsequently, the Edmonton health inspector said that it is not illegal to sell and eat the meat of dogs and other canines, as long as the meat has been inspected. In the end, these four particular canine carcasses were found to be coyotes. Ed Greenburg, an official with Edmonton's Capital Health Region, said the fact that the animals were coyotes doesn't change anything and inspectors are still looking into the possibility that uninspected meat was served at the restaurant. Under Canada's Wildlife Act, it is illegal to sell meat from any wild species. There is no law against selling and serving canine meat, including dogs, but it must be killed and gutted in front of federal inspectors.

China
Dog meat has been a source of food in parts of China from at least the time of Confucius, and possibly even before. Ancient writings from the Zhou Dynasty referred to the "three beasts" (which were bred for food), including pig, goat, and dog. Mencius, the philosopher, recommended dog as the tastiest of all meats. Dog meat is sometimes euphemistically called "fragrant meat" (香肉 xiāng ròu) or "mutton of the earth" (地羊 dì yáng) in Mandarin Chinese and "3-6 fragrant meat" in Cantonese (3 plus 6 is 9 and the words "nine" and "dog" are homophones, both pronounced gáu in Cantonese).

In the past in China, during a hard season when the food store was depleted, dogs were occasionally slaughtered as an emergency food supply. Today it is consumed for its perceived medicinal value of increasing the positive energy of one's body (the yang), and helping to regulate blood circulation. Due to this belief, people eat dog meat in the winter to help to keep themselves warm.

A common breed grown for meat is a cross between a local Chinese dog and a St. Bernard, which produces many litters of fast growing animals each year. The animals are slaughtered between 6 and 12 months of age for best size and tenderness.

Despite being a socially acceptable practice, the average Chinese does not usually consume dog meat as it is relatively expensive compared to other meat choices and hence generally more accessible to affluent Chinese. More concentrated dog meat consumption areas in China are in the northeast, south and southwestern areas. Peixian County in Northern Jiangsu is well-known in China for the production of a dog-meat stew flavoured with soft-shelled turtle. The dish is said to have been invented by Fan Kuai and to have been a favourite with Liu Bang, founder of the Han dynasty. 300,000 dogs are killed in the county each year, much of the meat being processed into stew for export across China and Korea.

The Chinese normally cook the dog meat by stewing it with thick gravy or by roasting it. One method of preparing the dog carcass is by immersion in boiling water, allowing the skin to be peeled off in one pull.

In Hong Kong, a local ordinance dating from British colonial rule which has been retained after the handover to Chinese sovereignty, prohibits the slaughter of any dog or cat for use as food, whether for mankind or otherwise, on pain of fine and imprisonment. Four local men were sentenced to 30 days imprisonment in December 2006 for having slaughtered two dogs. In an earlier case, in February of 1998, a Hong Kong man was sentenced to one month imprisonment and a fine of two thousand HK dollars for hunting street dogs for food. Apart from this, a large proportion of Hong Kong residents have taken up the modern Western viewpoint and are against the consumption of dog meat, although some consider it acceptable.

India
Dog is eaten in the Indian states of Mizoram and Nagaland.

Indonesia
In Indonesia, the consumption of dog meat is usually associated with the Minahasa, a Christian ethnic group in northern Sulawesi, who consider dog meat to be a festive dish and usually reserve it for special occasions like weddings and Christmas.

Korea
Gaegogi literally means "dog meat" in Korean. Gaegogi, however, is often mistaken as the term for Korean soup made from dog meat, bosintang. Though proponents claim that dogs used for food are a special breed, the soup may be made from any breed of dog including those which may be captured or stolen, such as former house pets. Lean dog meat is preferred for bosintang compared to fatty one, such as Siberian husky, while the latter is also suitable for Gaesoju (개소주), Korean medicinal dog wine. The distaste felt by dog lovers, particularly from the West, with respect to eating dog has made this dish controversial in recent years. About two to three million dogs are consumed in South Korea every year that corresponds to more than one trillion South Korean won ($1 billion at a rate of 1 USD per 1000 KRW).

The consumption of dog meat can be traced back many years. Dog bones were excavated in a neolithic settlement in Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang Province. One of the wall paintings in the Goguryeo tombs complex in South Hwangghae Province, a UNESCO World Heritage site which dates from 4th century AD, depicts a slaughtered dog in a storehouse.

Popular cuisine

 * bosintang - dog stew including dog meat as its primary ingredient.
 * gaejangguk - dog meat soup.
 * gaesuyuk - boiled dog meat.
 * gaesoju - a fermented drink that is distilled by cooking the dog in a double boiler. Dog’s penis used to be added as a medicine to supplement energy.
 * duruchigi - pan-fried dog meat with gravy and vegetables.
 * jeongol - hot pot.
 * dog burger, dog meat cutlet, dog meatball, etc.

Controversy
Use of dogs for meat and the methods of slaughter used have generated friction between dog lovers, both Western and Korean, and people who eat dogs; the conflict occasionally breaks out as headline news. During the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea's capital city, the South Korean government asked its citizens not to consume dog meat to avoid bad publicity during the games. The controversy surfaced again in 2001 when the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The organizer of the games, under pressure from animal rights groups such as PETA, demanded that the Korean government re-address the issue, but little changed. Another part of the controversy stems from the methods of slaughter, which include beating to death by clubs (common in the countryside) and hanging (offenses in Korea under the Animal Protection Act 1991 although it does not include dogs as animals for human consumption ), in order to get more adrenaline into the flesh to make it taste better. However, such methods are no longer common in industry, where generally instant electrocution is employed because of economic reasons. In 2007, a South Korean online dog meat retailer opened in April but closed in July due to a flood of demands to the local officials to "shut down the site for selling illegal (dog) meat." A government official said, "Under the food sanitation law, animals that are not examined according to livestock processing regulations are not allowed to be sold as food... However, we will not be taking strong measures to regulate the practice since we have a tradition and culture of eating dog meat and many people enjoy it."

Today in Korea, a segment of the population enjoy bosintang (literally "invigorating soup") for its supposed "medicinal" properties. Dog meat is also widely believed to keep one cool during the intense Korean summer. Dog meat is also believed to improve male virility, although there is no medical evidence to support these claims. Many Korean Buddhists consider eating meat an offense, which includes dog meat. Unlike beef, pork, or poultry, dog meat has no legal status as food in South Korea, which has caused the industry to go underground, with no official guidelines to address concerns over hygiene and animal welfare. Some in South Korea and abroad believe that dog meat should be legalized so that only authorized preparers can deal with the meat in more humane and sanitary ways, while others think that the practice should be banned by law. During the FIFA World Cup, in the face of foreign pressure to ban the sale of dog meat, a group of prominent South Koreans wrote an open letter in support of dog-eating. South Korea's top soccer official said that FIFA had no business interfering in his country's eating habits. Supporters of dog-eating held rallies against FIFA and launched a campaign to promote dog meat.

Besides the international criticism, in August 2007, Mohan Prashad Bharadwaj, a New Delhi city councilor where tens of thousands of stray dogs live in the city that become a problem, revealed his idea that "maybe we can send all the stray dogs of Delhi" to Korea where dog meat is widely consumed.

Many younger generations of Koreans are starting to abhor the practice of eating dog meat, and instead are treating dogs as pets rather than a source of food. According to a 2006 survey, among 1025 South Koreans, 81% of those in their fifties, 67% of those in their forties, 64% of those in their sixties, 59% of those in their thirties, 60% of teens, 46% of those in their twenties, and 55% on average have ever eaten dog meat. 64% eat dog meat 1 to 3 times per year, 17% 4 to 6 times, and 11% 7 to 10 times. This amounts to an average of 4.6 times per year, at 300 grams per incident. 75% think dog meat should not be banned, and many demand the improvement of the sanitary conditions rather than animal welfare.

Many Korean people including politicians consider their dog meat cuisine as a symbol of Korean nationalism, and believe that campaigns against dog meat are "an invasion of Western imperialism on Korean tradition."

Mexico
Dogs were historically bred for their meat by the Aztecs. Hernán Cortés reported that when he arrived in Tenochtitlan in 1519, "small gelded dogs which they breed for eating" were among the goods sold in the city markets. These dogs were called itzcuintlis, and were similar to the modern Mexican Hairless Dog. They are often depicted in pre-Columbian Mexican pottery.

Nigeria
Dogs are eaten in several states of Nigeria including Cross Rivers, Abuja, Plateau, and Gombe of Nigeria. they are believed to have medicinal powers.

Philippines
In the capital city of Manila, Metro Manila Commission Ordinance 82-05 specifically prohibits the killing and selling of dogs for food. More generally, the Philippine Animal Welfare Act 1998 prohibits the killing of any animal other than cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, poultry, rabbits, carabaos, horses, deer and crocodiles except in the following instances:
 * 1) When it is done as part of the religious rituals of an established religion or sect or a ritual required by tribal or ethnic custom of indigenous cultural communities; however, leaders shall keep records in cooperation with the Committee on Animal Welfare;
 * 2) When the pet animal is afflicted with an incurable communicable disease as determined and certified by a duly licensed veterinarian;
 * 3) When the killing is deemed necessary to put an end to the misery suffered by the animal as determined and certified by a duly licensed veterinarian;
 * 4) When it is done to prevent an imminent danger to the life or limb of a human being;
 * 5) When done for the purpose of animal population control;
 * 6) When the animal is killed after it has been used in authorized research or experiments; and
 * 7) Any other ground analogous to the foregoing as determined and certified by a licensed veterinarian.

Nevertheless, as is reported from time to time in Philippine newspapers, the eating of dog meat is not uncommon in the Philippines. DogMeatTrade.com, an organization working in the Philippines to eliminate the eating of dogs in the country, estimates that 500,000 dogs are killed annually in the Philippine Islands for human consumption.

In the Province of Benguet, Resolution 05-392 has been passed declaring, among other things, "it has been an evolved cultural practice of indigenous peoples of the Cordillera the butchering of animals, dogs included, as part of their rituals and practices leading to its commercialization to a limited extent, and had become an inevitable common necessity in their way of life"; and resolving, among other things, "to seek the help and assistance of the Committee on Animal Welfare, Department of Agriculture, the Regional Police Office, Cordillera Administrative Region, the Provincial Police Office, Benguet Province, for the proper observance of the said rights of indigenous peoples".

Polynesia
Dogs were historically eaten in Tahiti and other islands of Polynesia at the time of first European contact. James Cook, when first visiting Tahiti in 1769, recorded in his journal that "few were there of us but what allowe'd that a South Sea Dog was next to an English Lamb, one thing in their favour is that they live intirely upon Vegetables".

Switzerland
According to the November 21, 1996, edition of the Rheintaler Bote, a Swiss newspaper covering the Rhine Valley area, the Swiss rural cantons of Appenzell and St. Gallen are known to have had a tradition of eating dogs, curing dog meat into jerky and sausages, as well as using the lard for medicinal purposes. Dog sausage and smoked dog jerky remains a staple in the Swiss cantons of St. Gallen and Appenzell, where one farmer was quoted in a regional weekly newspaper as saying that "meat from dogs is the healthiest of all. It has shorter fibres than cow meat, has no hormones like veal, no antibiotics like pork."

A few years earlier, a news report on RTL Television on the two cantons set off a wave of protests from European animal rights activists and other concerned citizens. A 7000-name petition was filed to the commissions of the cantons, who rejected it, saying it wasn't the state's right to monitor the eating habits of its citizens.

Taiwan
Dog meat (Taiwanese or Minnan: 狗肉 káu-bah) is known by the euphemism "fragrant meat" (香肉 xiāng ròu) in Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan. Eating dogs has never been commonplace in Taiwan, but it is particularly eaten in the winter months, especially black dogs, which are believed to help retain body warmth. In 2004, the Taiwanese government imposed a ban on the sale of dog meat, due to both pressure from domestic animal welfare groups and a desire to improve international perceptions, although there were some protests. According to Lonely Planet's Taiwan guide, it is still possible to find dog meat on some restaurant menus, but this is becoming increasingly rare.

Vietnam


While not a common meat, dog meat is consumed throughout Vietnam to varying degrees of acceptability, though more predominantly in the north. There are about seven dishes featuring dog meat, and they often include the head, feet and internal organs. On Nhat Tan Street, Tây Hồ District, Hanoi, many restaurants serve dog meat, often imitating each other. Groups of customers, usually male, seated on mats, will spend their evenings sharing plates of dog meat and drinking beer. Dog meat is supposed to raise the libido and is sometimes considered unsuitable for women; in other words, eating dog meat serves as a male bonding exercise. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon for women to eat dog meat. The consumption of dog meat can be part of a ritual usually occurring toward the end of the lunar month for reasons of astrology and luck. Restaurants which mainly exist to serve dog meat may only open for the last half of the lunar month.

Native Americans
The traditional culture surrounding the consumption of dog meat varied from tribe to tribe among the original inhabitants of North America, with some tribes relishing it as a delicacy and others (such as the Comanche) treating it as an abhorrent practice. First Nations peoples of the Great Plains, such as the Sioux and Cheyenne, consumed it, but there was a concurrent religious taboo against the meat of wild canines. The usual preparation method was boiling.