Dog Meat, Animal Hypocrites And The Facts

aNt's aNgle:   

A PICTURE like the one on the left is enough to make any pet lover livid. 

But as Janarthani Arumugam, a women's activist and another animal lover - and friend - pointed out to me on Facebook yesterday, let's face it; dog meat is a much sought-after delicacy such as with the Batak community in Sumatra for one!

She was commenting on PET+BLOGSPOT'S post yesterday from Radio Australia about how dog meat is now a big business, particularly in Southeast Asia. 

It's so good that even pet owners around the region are becoming victims (or should I say their dogs) of this illegal and deplorable business. 

Their pet dogs are dog-napped and transported around the region only to end up in the cooking pots of homes elsewhere. Click HERE for the story.

This reminds me of the time when I organised a talk on animal awareness in a local council a few years ago. 

One of the speakers was a top official from the Department of Veterinary Services in Putrajaya and he dropped a most unexpected bombshell. 

During his speech he suggested that pet lovers consider eating their own dogs when they had lived out their usefulness.

In his point of view, he argued that he was being practical. But to most participants he was being shockingly rude, insensitive and cruel.

What was this guy thinking?  

He might as well have suggested that everyone go and eat their children, wives, husbands and loved ones next!

Needless to say, the speaker got quite a shelling that he deserved from his audience. 

(I took the matter up privately to his superior - and vowing never to invite him again. But then again, we had never extended an invitation to him in the first place. He came as a replacement for his superior who couldn't make it because of another urgent engagement.)

All these opened up a cans of worms personally for me. In some strange and weird way, the speaker also did make some sense. 

Why are we eating animals at all? Is being a vegan the true and right path to heaven where animals all live and roam free? 

Some of the best animal rights advocates that I look up to in Petpositive like  Shenaaz Khan and Dr P Vanaja will NOT eat meat or use them as products no matter what.

However, it must be said that I do love my pork, chicken, mutton, beef and other stuff which I purely eat for their nutritionally value. Okay, I just lied there. They are also pretty tasty as well.

And if you don't mind, whilst I appreciate the priceless views of vegans, I still would like to have my doctor's opinion on the nutritional values of wonderful veggies verses monster meat.

Yes, of course, there is also the fear in me that does not want to see how the meat in front of me looked like before it got there when it was alive. Or all the processes (pain and suffering) it had to bear all the way to my dinner table.

And hey, it isn't exactly easy to go comepletely green if you are in a wheelchair and practically living alone like it. There are the issues of marketing, storage and cooking and what not that go along with it. It simply won't work for the present moment with where I am now.

What I can say, however, is that I am working towards being a true and full fledged vegan one day. 

In the meant time, let me say that I certainly have tremendous respect rather than ridicule for all who are that way simply because they don't want to see or make animals suffer.

This reminds me of yesterday's story in PET+BLOGSPOT (See HERE) where a Sri Lankan monk set himself fatally on fire and died later. Part of the reason for his action apparently was because of the way cattle were killed in his country - despite the fact that there are many beef eaters there.

I thought at first that he was crazy until I learnt about his real and noble cause.

To me the real nutters, however, out there are some animal groups who sanctimoniously advocate for what they call as a "No Kill" policy.

I even know of one such group in the Klang Valley that shamelessly proclaimed in its online page that (the head of the group) is perfectly okay with eating any other animals except dogs and cats.


What a whole load of codswallop!

In their hypocrisy, they play God and have defined for themselves what animals are "kosher" for food and what isn't.   

In their twisted imagination, dogs and cats are obviously better than chicken, cows, pigs and other animals that deserve to be in the cooking pot to satiate their appetites.

My point is if they are truly "No Kill" then they should practise exactly what they preach and not have one rule for some animals and another for others.

And they want to preach to local councils about not killing dogs and cats?!

Well, at least, most the the councils do them humanely with a lethal injection, often either by a veterinarian or someone trained with the skill like a veterinary officer. 

I have heard of many restaurants killing their livestock in the most cruel way - some even boiling a chicken alive.

And what does one say to a society that says it is culturally okay for them to eat dog and cats like the crackpot group that says its okay to eat other animals except dogs and cats?


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PET+BLOGSPOT is the ONLINE BLOG of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association or Petpositive. Our stories are CURRENT, ACCURATE and RELIABLE. We offer both local and foreign news on animals, disability and the elderly. PET+BLOGSPOT was first established in October 2007. Our hits since then are now 150,000 and ever increasing! PET+BLOGSPOT is updated daily. Kindly note that views expressed in PET+BLOGSPOT are not necessarily those of PETPOSITIVE. You may also visit our Webpage by browsing: www.petpositive.com.my You can also find us in Facebook under PETPOSITIVE EMPOWERMENT. Please sign up as a FOLLOWER of this Blog if you haven't done so already in order to show us your kind support for our work. Thank you!