Is it really that wrong to eat dogs and cats?

Just thought i'd add: I think the fact that the OP is a 'troll' and has been suspended is irrelevent.
 
The topic at hand, even if it was written to stir up the pot, is a very good question.
 
Though eating dogs and cats is not the norm, everyday main course in those countries, they still do it and we are not one to say its wrong. What about in Peru where the locals eat Guinea Pigs? I personally wouldnt eat it because its a rodent, but hey, its their culture.
 
What about some 'Americans' that eat deer? What about Australians and Kangaroos? Puerto Ricans and Pigs? Here in Puerto Rico we have a tasty treat, that English speakers referr to as 'blood sausages'
 
To give a quick description blood sausages consist of the pig intestine (thoroughly cleaned), filled with boiled white rice and mixed with pigs blood. You fry it, and serve.
 
Now it sounds horrible, but hey it tastes great, and I have met people from all over the world who come to Puerto Rico to taste these 'morcillas', and I have never heard even one person say 'How barbaric!' or anything like that.
 
I think a bit of respect for other countries is called for

To give a quick description blood sausages consist of the pig intestine (thoroughly cleaned), filled with boiled white rice and mixed with pigs blood. You fry it, and serve.

 
I think I am going to pass out[sm=lame.gif]

To give a quick description blood sausages consist of the pig intestine (thoroughly cleaned), filled with boiled white rice and mixed with pigs blood. You fry it, and serve.

We use farina and make it spicy in the Caribbean (Trinidad) and it is GOOOOOOOOD stuff. What's that saying; if you love sausage don't watch it being made?

Paula

Yup, I think that the eating of dogs, cats, and horses is quite nasty.
 
I also think that the eating of green beans, brussel sprouts (come on, even brussel sproat lovers have to admit they look like green testicales), tuna, ANYTHING with the word "blood" in it's name, organs, snails, reptiles, and tomato soup is ubber gross as well.
 
Some call me judgemental--I call me picky.

I haven't read through all the posts yet, but regardless, I want to share my view...

I consider myself to be a relativist.  Everyone's culture is different... just because my values, beliefs and practicies are different from those of another culture doesn't mean that the values beliefs and practices of the "other" are not valid. 

Let me draw on my experiences as a teacher to ELLs (English Language Learners)...
We were reading a Native American Legend in which the nomadic people were hungry because there were no buffalo in the area, and they were too tired from malnurishment to travel on.  The pictures, on the other hand, showed deer.  One student asked, "why don't they eat the deer?"  And for a moment I was baffled as to what to say, and didn't want to respond with the regular "Its just a story" remark.  I pondered it for a moment, and asked "Why don't we eat pigeons?"  If its not in our culture to eat something, we would never consider it as food.

The same things pertains to dogs and cats.  We don't consider it as food, so it would never cross our minds to eat it. 

Step back, and try not to look through our Western lens.  Reflect on and analyze our own culture... some things that we do without even a second thought because it is so ingrained in ourselves and our culture may be barbaric or totally unthinkable to other cultures...  Take, for example, the Hindu religion, that considers cows to be sacred... they would never even think of eating one, and through their lens, our practices are unthinkable.

**ETA:  In addition to this, (it doesn't have to do with eating dogs, but it does have to do with dogs and differing cultures...)  I have photos of my dog up in my classroom.  My class and I were discussing different pets that people keep in their home, and because I know that many cultures do not keep dogs as pets, I brought it up.  Many of my children stated that no one keeps a dog as a pet in their countries (many different continents and countries represented) and that if they do, it is strictly an outside dog.  I let them know that I keep my dog inside at all times, and as a matter of fact, my dog sleeps in my bed!  The reaction I got was "eew, thats disgusting!"  Do I blame them or take offense?  Not at all.  Not only are they children, but they can only view the world through the lens they have been living in and viewing through for their entire lives.  Did I continue to discuss how every culture has its own beliefs, values, and practices, and how each one is different and valid in its own realm?  You bet I did!
 
(they also asked me if my dog licks my face, and I said yes, and they asked if thats why I have all those dots [blemishes] on my face... lol!)

Most of us are outraged (including me) at the photos of the cats/dogs offered for sale as meat in China.  I personally would not eat it, however we must also admit that the livestock we eat is kept in similar conditions - chickens, calves, pigs, beef cattle are not treated kindly - live in crowded conditions - are often skinned while still alive, etc.
 
All of this makes me very sad because there is another way to handle this.
 
dianeg

It just makes me so upset when I hear "well, this animal is more intelligent than this one." or "Well, this animal has conciousness. This one doesn't." To me, those are the two most insanely presumptuous statements that anyone can possibly make.

 
I'm a little unsure of whether we are agreeing or arguing here ... but just to clarify, that was the conclusion I drew when I started trying parse "intelligent" and "dumb" animals (hence the scare quotes)... it really can't be done.

And all of this isn't to say that we should never eat meat. Animals understand the predator/prey relationship. When a rabbit is killed by a wolf, it certainly isn't happy about it, but it understands that a wolf just needs to eat. Likewise, the wolf doesn't think that the rabbit is stupid, or "deserved" to get eaten...it actually has respect for the rabbit and gives thanks that it gave its life so that he may live.

 
I actually find that point of view a little troubling as well... just for me, personally. I don't think humans participate in a normal predator/prey relationship anymore. How much the meat we eat can really be called prey? Even fish are "farmed" these days. And how many humans ever act as predators, especially Americans? Ironically many of the workers in American meatpacking plants are immigrants, we've removed ourselves so much from the whole life cycle of our meat. The normal predator-prey relationship usually involves some risk to each and every animal in the cycle, whether that means the predator is someone else's prey and has to expose himself to hunt, or whether he's merely vulnerable to food scarcity. Unless you're a meatpacker or a hunter there is no real risk to you as a "predator" when you eat meat; you have every advantage, far and above your captive prey animals. I think that it's actually a better argument to say that meat is a privelege and a luxury that comes with being at the top of the food chain, than it is to use a predator/prey model for omnivorous humans.

ORIGINAL: jones

I'm a little unsure of whether we are agreeing or arguing here ... but just to clarify, that was the conclusion I drew when I started trying parse "intelligent" and "dumb" animals (hence the scare quotes)... it really can't be done.

We're agreeing. [] I realize you no longer feel that way, I was just talking about the "some animals are dumber than others" mentality in general. Not just you in particular.

I actually find that point of view a little troubling as well... just for me, personally. I don't think humans participate in a normal predator/prey relationship anymore. How much the meat we eat can really be called prey? Even fish are "farmed" these days. And how many humans ever act as predators, especially Americans? Ironically many of the workers in American meatpacking plants are immigrants, we've removed ourselves so much from the whole life cycle of our meat. The normal predator-prey relationship usually involves some risk to each and every animal in the cycle, whether that means the predator is someone else's prey and has to expose himself to hunt, or whether he's merely vulnerable to food scarcity. Unless you're a meatpacker or a hunter there is no real risk to you as a "predator" when you eat meat; you have every advantage, far and above your captive prey animals. I think that it's actually a better argument to say that meat is a privelege and a luxury that comes with being at the top of the food chain, than it is to use a predator/prey model for omnivorous humans.

I really was referring to one particular argument that people (not you) who push vegetarianism really hard often bring up- they'll say "well it's MEAN to eat animals, they don't want to be eaten, it's cruel, etc." I was pointing out that from an animal's point of view, they don't see the act of being eaten itself as being cruel. No, they don't want to be eaten, but they don't sit around saying "why oh why is this happening to me!?" Respect for other life is a big thing in the animal world. As long as their sacrifice is aknowledged, they generally are fine with being eaten. (In a moral sense, anyway.) I personally have no problem with vegetarianism. I've come close to becoming one myself several times in my life, and I think that if someone is more comfortable not eating meat that's comepletely fine and good.

You're right that humans *don't* participate in a normal predator/prey relationship anymore. That art of the point I was trying to make...that the whole animal world is giving us a big "wtf!?" for ignoring the normal rules and etiquette of a predator prey relationship. They don't have concepts of money, economics, and the ideas behind large scale meat production. All an animal knows, after living a miserable life in a major cofinement operation, is that the human taking its life is not following the rules. Basically, the animals are all insulted. Regardless of whether we're omnivores or carnivores, our place in the food chain, etc...the bottom line is that to the rest of the animal world, we are killing and eating other animals...and to them that makes us predators, albeit very strange ones. So regardless as to where we stand as as a species when it comes to what makes up the bulk of our diet, and whether we are acting as "true" predators or not, animals just see that we kill other animals and eat them sometimes. To them that makes us predators. Other predatory animals treat them with respect, and they really can't understand why humans don't.

 I think it would be a good time just to point out that all of my views are based on a pretty unusual belief system that I have based on telepathic communication with animals. Do with that what you will. These are all opinions I've formed based on that, and while I believe in them, I'm just as likely to be wrong as anyone else. 'S just what I've experienced and what I believe. []

I really was referring to one particular argument that people (not you) who push vegetarianism really hard often bring up- they'll say "well it's MEAN to eat animals, they don't want to be eaten, it's cruel, etc." I was pointing out that from an animal's point of view, they don't see the act of being eaten itself as being cruel. No, they don't want to be eaten, but they don't sit around saying "why oh why is this happening to me!?" Respect for other life is a big thing in the animal world. As long as their sacrifice is aknowledged, they generally are fine with being eaten. (In a moral sense, anyway.) I personally have no problem with vegetarianism. I've come close to becoming one myself several times in my life, and I think that if someone is more comfortable not eating meat that's comepletely fine and good. [/quote
 
I think this statement is a little silly.
Have you conducted an interview to find out what they really feel?
I am sure in general they are ok with being abused and eaten........[8|]

Have you conducted an interview to find out what they really feel?

 
Yes, as a matter of fact I have. I'm not going to get into a discussion about animal communication with you. This is the second time you have been very rude to me in a thread. I will leave you with some resources on the subject, and if you think it's silly you can discuss it with me privately and respectfully, otherwise you can keep it to yourself. I never attacked anyone elses views, and I would appreciate it if you would not attack mine. Here are some links on the subject. I will not be responding to your rudeness anymore. How would you feel if someone walked up to you and told you all of your beliefs were "silly?"
 
[linkhttp://www.cyberark.com/animal/telepath.htm]http://www.cyberark.com/animal/telepath.htm[/link]      
[linkhttp://www.kindredspiritsanimalcommunication.com/AnimalCommunication.htm]http://www.kindredspiritsanimalcommunication.com/AnimalCommunication.htm[/link]         
 [linkhttp://www.jacquelinsmith.com/telepathic.html]http://www.jacquelinsmith.com/telepathic.html[/link]
[linkhttp://www.animalcommunicator.net/animal_communication.htm]http://www.animalcommunicator.net/animal_communication.htm[/link]
[linkhttp://www.animaltalk.net/about.htm]http://www.animaltalk.net/about.htm[/link]
 

I am sure in general they are ok with being abused and eaten........[8|]

 
I never said either of those things. Of course nothing wants to be killed, abused, or eaten. All I said is that animals understand another being's need for meat to survive. They're not volunteering for it and they dont want to die, but they don't hate the predator or think it's evil or bad for doing what it needs to do to live. Not having a MORAL problem with being eaten doesn't = wanting to be eaten. Again, I'm not going to respond to your rudeness any longer. Be polite, or don't respond to my posts.

First off, I don't think I was being rude.
I am actively involved in animal rights, and I must say the suffering I have seen is terrible, including farm animals.
 
When you make a statement as you made above it makes me question if you really know what goes on in the meat world.
 
I, for one feel offended here in respect to the animals suffering.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Did you read anything else I said? I just spent the last few pages discussing how wrong factory farming is and the steps I take not to support it. I have read many of the books out there on it, and I have seen all of the videos.
 
I was involved in rat rescue for quite a while. I have seen horrible abuse, and immense suffering. I honestly can't see where in my posts you get the idea that I don't care.
 
You were rude in calling my beliefs "silly". You don't have to agree with them, but you don't have to be derogatory either. Again...this is the second thread you've been rude to me in. Please, in the future, kindly leave me alone. Whether you mean it or not your tone comes across as incredibly rude and you are making some really false and unfounded assumptions about me.
 
So I know you're going to post again as your attempt to get the last word in. Have at it, but I would prefer for you to kindly just ignore me from now on. You are the only person here so far who has had a problem with me. I absolutely refuse to respond to any more of your posts directed at me in this thread. Don't misenterpret my silence as you being right in your assumptions about me.

I will not attack or anything else, I only have one question:
 
If you belief in communicating with animals on that level, then why are you having such a problem with Pepito?
 
[linkhttp://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=199139]http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=199139[/link]
 
You said it yourself, you didn't know what was going on.

Pepito is the only animal I've never been able to communicate with. Probably because his brain is screwey, and like we figured out in that thread, he is likely having seizures.
 
Being the only animal I've never been able to talk to, he's also the only one I've ever had any beavioral problems with. What a coincidence. [] Why, exactly, do you continue to bring up the problems I have with Pepito? You seem to have an obsession with it, as you refer to it pretty often. I really can't see how anything going on with Pepito is my fault. Can you stop hijacking the thread now?
 
 

Hijacking the thread....hmmmmm.
 
If certain people could come down from Mars, maybe some of this could be explained in a better way.
 
To get back on topic, no dogs or cats for me!!!