This is heart breaking

[hatedialysis2]

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-04-05/china-dog-meat-festival-in-yulin-targeted-by-opponents-who-argue-its-cruel
There are petitions online if you want to help put a stop to this barbarism

[kickingandscreaming]

I've signed a ton of petitions about this horrific situation. I can't even bare to read about it.

[Simon Dog]

Horrible.   Eating dog borders on cannibalism as far as I am concerned.

[Charlie B53]

Sad, but different cultures have different beliefs.

India wouldn't think of grinding a cow into hamburger.   We love it.


Who are we to want to force our beliefs on anyone else, and expect those Countries and Peoples to change their methods of life.


While we not agree or approve of any practice, it is not our position to forced another Country or group of Peoples to conform to our Habits and Beliefs,  UNLESS those Peoples immigrate into our Country.

[kickingandscreaming]

I realize that the cultural relativity issue is a big one.  But the relationship/partnership between human and dog is an ancient, primal one that dates back way before any modern cultures existed.  We have been together for a long, long time in a mutually beneficial relationship. We shouldn't eat our partners, and certainly not in the cruel manner that this "festival" is carries out.  I found it interesting that this "festival" only dates back to 2010--hardly a long-standing, deeply-rooted custom.

[kristina]

It is so sad and strange what people are capable of doing - not only to animals - but to each other as well..
... Adding to the horror above, I have always been shocked about the fact that it is socially acceptable in Arab/Muslim countries
that a young girl is being mutilated (FGM) for the rest of her life  ... and she is condemned to spend the rest of her life in complete pain
because she happens to be a female ...

[hatedialysis2]

It's true what CharlieB53 says about forcing our view on other cultures.  it's true that we have abuses in our neck of the woods.  Just lookup the bloody dog fighting for sport, or kill a bit bull on Halloween, or the inhumane treatment of farm animals by meat producing farms.  Petra.org is full of cases of animal cruelty cases.   But it doesn't mean that I will not sign a petition to help stop this cruelty if I can, regardless of where it's taking place in the world.  Our worlds are so interconnected, we can't  just turn away just because it's happening somewhere else.  Animal cruelty is not a custom of any culture as far as I know.

[Charlie B53]

I whole-heartedly agree that we must stop the abuses that occur within our own country.


Kristina has a very valid point.   When any country has a practice of abusing HUMANS, especially young girls, this is an instance where we MUST step in, and put an end to such horror.    It is sad enough that women are forced to remain subject to the the demands of men, but the barbaric mutilation of female genitals can never be ignored and must be stopped.



On the original subject.
We have pets.  A Dog and a Cat.  Used to have 3 Dogs and 2 Cats, unfortunately age has taken them.  We have had a number of pet over the years.  All are like Children that never grow up.  Each had their own personality and all just wanted to share space and love with us.

But if ever forced to decide, in a pure survival situation where I was forced to consider willing and eating one,  I would put it off as long as possible, until there really wasn't any other option.   There are books written, describing situations exactly as this which have already occurred in cold climates.   Dog sleds in the North,  the airplane crash in the ice and snow of the mountains.  I don't remember where this one occured, only that the survivors didn't have any choice in order to survive, they were forced to eat the dead.    The human will to survive is strong.  Most do not have the strength to be martyrs.

[kristina]

I whole-heartedly agree that we must stop the abuses that occur within our own country.


Kristina has a very valid point.   When any country has a practice of abusing HUMANS, especially young girls, this is an instance where we MUST step in, and put an end to such horror.    It is sad enough that women are forced to remain subject to the the demands of men, but the barbaric mutilation of female genitals can never be ignored and must be stopped.

Hello Charlie and many thanks for your kind thoughts... Fortunately I have never experienced any of it but as a teenager I knew two Turkish girls at College and I remember them being forced by their parents to go through that sort of barbaric mutilating FGM-ceremony. Hearing about what happened to these two girls has kept me horrified ever since.
... In recent years I also have been reading that our National Health Service in the UK struggles because many females from FGM-countries come to the UK and bring with them medical legacies from these barbaric rituals and UK-doctors struggle to "put things right again" even though it seems irreversible...
It is so sad to notice what humans are capable of doing to other humans and/or to animals...
Many thanks again for your kind and caring thought and take care of yourself and kind regards from Kristina.

[kickingandscreaming]

I think that--whether it's barbarically eating dogs or mutilating young female genitals-- that it represents the same streak of "power over" another. As much as I would wish otherwise, there is a steak of cruelty and the desire to hurt others less powerful than oneself alive and well in the human species. You can couch it in "culture," but it still reduces to the same thing in the end. And in these cases, it has nothing to do with survival in a situation such as what Charlie describes. This is one reason why I often prefer the company of dogs.

[Charlie B53]

Vietnamese countrymen think it a delicacy to eat 'tortured dog'.   The would tie a noose around a dogs neck and hang it from a tree leaving just enough line so the dog could stand on it's hind legs.   The dog would strain for many hours before tiring so much it could not stand and the slowly suffocated.   The locals thought this make the meat very much better.

And some wonder why are men shot so many locals.  There is more, worse.

[PrimeTimer]

They also eat bugs. They will wait until nighttime under a street light with butterfly nets to catch those giant grasshoppers and bugs to eat. How do I know? I once lived in Southeast Asia.