“Opposing dog meat consumption is hypocritical” – Weibo users discuss dog meat

In China an estimated 10 million to 20 million dogs are killed annually for the dog meat industry in the country. In the UK around 10 million pigs are killed annually for consumption. This statistic provides a comparison. Dogs in China can be considered to be ‘free livestock’. No farming costs. Just roundup and transportation costs. It is a good business which is why it is hard to get rid of (even if the authorities wanted to, which they don’t).

Weibo.com is China’s Facebook. It appears that a substantial number of Weibo users think that the anti-dog meat protestors are hypocritical. They are arguing that the protestors often eat farmed animals so what is the difference?

There is a difference which the apologists for dog meat haven’t grasped. There are two major reasons why there is a difference between eating domestic and stray dogs and eating cows or sheep.

Unwritten agreement

For the domestic dog there is an unwritten agreement between dog and human that the dog provides some protection to the human and comfort through companionship and in return the human cares for their dog’s basic needs such as food, security, warmth, companionship and leadership.

What is NOT in this unwritten agreement is that the human can kill and eat the dog. Killing a pet dog for food is a gross breach of that unwritten all-encompassing contract. It is doubly bad because the

Killing

Animals bred for human consumption (livestock like lambs) are killed under controlled conditions in an abattoir in all Western, developed countries. The objective? A humane death. That’s the goal. It is not always met but the target is laudable.

Dog meat in Asia comes from the dog meat markets like the Yulin Dog Meat Festival. Here the thousands of dogs rounded up are killed in a most obscene fashion with a complete disregard for the animal’s sentience. To the devils that brutalise and kill the dogs they are ‘objects’ no different to inanimate objects stamped out in a factory.

The killers don’t know or have never heard of the word ‘sentience’ it seems to me. How could they have heard of it when they act as they do? Millions of hours of pain have been suffered by dogs over the years. It weighs heavily on the human conscience of those who are educated enough to understand the moral wrong of the dog meat industry.

Conclusion

Anti-dog meat protestors are not hypocritical. These are Chinese netizens living in China. They are brave and committed. They are driving change in a longstanding attitude which is rooted in the ancient past. That’s hard to change. There is a gradual change. We see trucks stacked high with suffering dogs in rusty cages being stopped and the activists releasing them.

Some of these dogs are brought to the West by even more committed and thoughtful animal advocates at great expense and effort. The dogs have a life for the first time in their lives.

They are no longer ‘free livestock’ destined for dog hell on Earth.