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Some 700 or so establishments, designated as "official Olympic restaurants" that are catering to visitors during the Olumpics, bowed to foreign sensitivities and took dog off their menus for the duration of the event.
And we expect this "most favored nation" to CARE about what they put into pet foods that are sold in the U.S. !!
Some 700 or so establishments, designated as "official Olympic restaurants" that are catering to visitors during the Olumpics, bowed to foreign sensitivities and took dog off their menus for the duration of the event.
And we expect this "most favored nation" to CARE about what they put into pet foods that are sold in the U.S. !!
OK, I'm totally confused. Are we talking about pet food or are we talking about menu items at restaurants?
Some 700 or so establishments, designated as "official Olympic restaurants" that are catering to visitors during the Olumpics, bowed to foreign sensitivities and took dog off their menus for the duration of the event.
And we expect this "most favored nation" to CARE about what they put into pet foods that are sold in the U.S. !!
Okay, here is the ugly American enforcing their view of life on the world? I had this explained by a good Vietnamese friend of mine (who admitted that the Vietnamese people are known to eat dog also.)
To some Asian cultures, a dog is NOT a family pet, it is just another domestic animal. You might let it stay around, even feed it for acting as a watchdog, but it is not an "in your lap" animal. When times get hard, or you are hungry, they are just another resource for meat, no great stigma attached to eating one.
Different strokes, I'm sure there are Hindus who are disgusted with the American beef culture.
As for the Chinese standards when it comes to food and toy production, when you are starving and trying to make a product to feed your family, sometimes your production practices might get a little shoddy. It's not an intentional "Lets poison the American" attitude, just the cheapest way to make a product.
Okay, here is the ugly American enforcing their view of life on the world? I had this explained by a good Vietnamese friend of mine (who admitted that the Vietnamese people are known to eat dog also.)
To some Asian cultures, a dog is NOT a family pet, it is just another domestic animal. You might let it stay around, even feed it for acting as a watchdog, but it is not an "in your lap" animal. When times get hard, or you are hungry, they are just another resource for meat, no great stigma attached to eating one.
Different strokes, I'm sure there are Hindus who are disgusted with the American beef culture.
To quote kd lang from a PETA ad she did decades ago, "why do we call some animals food and others companions?" Of course we find eating dogs or cats vile, but you know, as a vegetarian, I find eating cows and chickens and pigs pretty vile...(especially pigs, who are smarter than dogs even, and hey, did anyone read "The Good Good Pig"? Fabulous book!!)
In any event, at least China has temporarily removed dogs from their restaurants. When I was there in 2000, I couldn't even go to the open air markets with dogs and other animals packed into cages, waiting to be chosen as someone's dinner. It made me feel horrible, but I felt the same about the chickens and the goats too...
As long as we can eat meat, and not think about where and how it came to us, we're pretty much OK, aren't we. I try, as much as possible, to purchase meat and eggs labeled that they practice humane treatment of animals. Not sure what that means, according to their definition, but should probably find out. "Cage free" eggs may not even mean what I think it does.
PETA wants to remove all animals from the companion animal status - according to them, none of us have the right to own a pet. That is their near term goal. Their ultimate goal is to force everyone to become vegetarian.
As for the suggestion that it's OK to have shoddy production practices because one is starving and trying to feed one's family, that is beyond the pale. There was some news about the tainted dog food having (in at least one instance) been intentional, but even if it wasn't, there are standards that Chinese manufacturers have agreed to before production started, but that doesn't seem to mean much, so it's up to us to be watchful, and doubly careful, when it comes to what we give our children and/or our pets.
The cheapest product is not always the cheapest, in the long run.
re: Okay, here is the ugly American enforcing their view of life on the world?
No, here is someone saying it's easy to understand why they have so little regard for the welfare and health of our pets - and for that reason, we need to remain ever watchful.
To quote kd lang from a PETA ad she did decades ago, "why do we call some animals food and others companions?" Of course we find eating dogs or cats vile, but you know, as a vegetarian, I find eating cows and chickens and pigs pretty vile...(especially pigs, who are smarter than dogs even, and hey, did anyone read "The Good Good Pig"? Fabulous book!!)
In any event, at least China has temporarily removed dogs from their restaurants. When I was there in 2000, I couldn't even go to the open air markets with dogs and other animals packed into cages, waiting to be chosen as someone's dinner. It made me feel horrible, but I felt the same about the chickens and the goats too...
I agree with your sentiment, PudelPie. It is unfortunate that any animal must suffer at the hands of a hungry human. Nevertheless, I so not elevate dogs to a higher level than chickens or certainly pigs, who are purportedly even MORE intelligent (or at least AS intelligent as dogs).
Sadly, we live in a world that eats meat, right or wrong. I risk the wrath of the dog lovers on the board (it is the "dog" forum after all), when I say that protein is protein and short of "Soylent Green", it doesn't really matter one way or the other to me personally what the Chinese culture eats. We recoil at the notion of munching on Rover simply because in our culture we think of Rover as part of the family. But they do not have these views in China, apparently. Therefore, unless we (Americans) think that we have the right to dictate what the rest of the world eats, we need to dummy up about it.
It was very nice that the Olympic committee to pull the pooch from the menus, but you can't help but wonder how the regular customers feel about it. I'm assuming that you can still order Sweet and Sour Saluki, it is just one of those "off the menu" items that is ordered with a wink and a grin, rather like "mountain oysters" are in the US.
Frankly, if I were there, in the name of cultural diversity, I'd want to try a bite, just so I know what it tastes like. After all, you'll never get to taste it at Hardees.
Frankly, if I were there, in the name of cultural diversity, I'd want to try a bite, just so I know what it tastes like. After all, you'll never get to taste it at Hardees.
20yrsinBranson
Never get to taste it at Hardees? Don't be so sure. Maybe not Hardees, but I wouldn't be surprised elsewhere. Some years ago, when we lived in CT, a local Chinese restaurant was closed down because inspectors found frozen cats in the freezer. China now has McDonald's, so maybe instead of beef burgers there, they'll be eating hot dogs (literally).
It's totally repulsive to me, and I don't *have* to like it.
I dont mind being a Meat eater. As long as the animal was properly taken care of while it was alive & Humanely killed. Which is one of the reasons I dont eat fish. Ever watch how they are killed?? They are not! The litterly die gasping for breath. Lobsters are kept in a smelly tank to starve unless someone comes along & buys them then they a Boiled Alive.
Dog & cats are kept in small dirty cages used to breed more inventory. And spend their life hardly fed...till some one comes along & says hey will have that one for dinner! Here we treat a dog or cat that way till its sold as a Pet & EVERY one says the breeder needs to be kept that way...& we call them Puppy Mills.
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"Pets"
