Is it really so bad to eat dog meat? Read this article by CNN
Culled from CNN, read this interesting article below...
In the West, reaction is divided between those who vigorously condemn the festival and those who claim that it is a kind of cultural imperialism to judge China by our own values.'
'Both are half-right and half-wrong.'
Take the critics of the festival first. There is certainly plenty for them to truly indignant about.'
'There
is a belief among some that the dog meat tastes better if the animal is
slaughtered when distressed, and there are even accusations that the
animals are sometimes skinned alive.'
Lazy thinking?
However, often the critics find it unacceptable that dogs are being caged, killed and eaten at all.
Such
complaints are justified when they come from vegans who are equally
upset about the conditions of pigs and cows in western industrial farms.
But
they are simply hypocritical when they come from carnivores who happily
eat intensively reared pigs, or even from vegetarians whose milk and
cheese comes from cattle kept in such poor conditions that large swathes
of the herds are lame.
However, those who say any criticism
at all is a kind of moral imperialism are also guilty of lazy thinking.
Almost everyone believes that respect for difference has its limits.
I
know of no one who in the name of cultural diversity defends the
barbaric practices of ISIS, the chillingly efficient holocaust
perpetuated by the Third Reich, or the execution of homosexuals and
atheists in some Islamic countries.
What presents itself as
open-minded tolerance can very easily become a kind of condescension, as
though the Chinese cannot be expected to live up to our highest ideals.
Racist sentiments?
In
fact, protest against the Yulin festival began in China, where retired
school teacher Yang Xiaoyun paid thousands of dollars to save dogs and
cats from the festival, and celebrities such as Chen Kun, Yang Mi and
Fan Bingbing have spoken out against it.
Although dog eating
is a tradition in parts of China, the Yulin festival was only started in
2009 and is not endorsed by the local government.
What I also
find troubling about issues like this is how they insidiously bring out
the xenophobe in otherwise liberal people on both sides of the
argument.
When I previously wrote about the festival, one
person who ranted against me tweeted that all Koreans were evil because
they ate dogs.
Such blatantly racist sentiments are rarely
expressed so openly but I fear many who condemn the Yulin festival are
also confirming their own prejudices about "backward" Asian peoples who
are inherently cruel and incapable of being sympathetic towards animals.
'The
readiness to believe the worst about the Chinese also comes out in the
way in which many people sharing their anger on social media accept the
stories of cruelty without checking for themselves that they are rife.'
'Seeing
one video of one dog being beaten is not enough to condemn the whole
festival, just as knowing that there have been abuses in some Western
abattoirs does not condemn the whole meat industry.
'Westerners
who feel appalled by the Yulin festival need to check that their
objections are based on robust values and not just a sentimental
preference for cute, friendly animals.'
'Then, they should check that the stories they hear are true, which it seems they too often are.'
'Then,
they should think hard about the right way to express their
disapproval. Some claim that social media pressure from the West has led
to a decline in the number of dogs killed to around 1,000, but it is
hard to know what is really responsible for the drop.
'Usually any perception of outside "Western" pressure is counterproductive for a campaign.
'Ultimately this is an issue for the Chinese to resolve themselves.'
Backing
groups like the Chinese Animal Protection Network shows both respect
for the Chinese people and faith in the possibility that some values at
least are truly universal.'
What do you think, is it good to eat dog meat?
Source: CNN
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