These images show dogs being cooked and served up as a meal, and it's a popular Chinese tradition.
The dogs arrive alive in cages ready for the slaughter, cut up and cooked at the meat market in Yulin City, Guangxi province, China, and the dogs are chopped up and cooked in front of diners.
While many Chinese still enjoy dog meat, many object to the practice of beating dogs to death to release the blood into the meat.
We realize this whole thing is a tradition that dates back thousands of years.
We have no problem eating all kinds of meat, but when an animal is truly domesticated, well, that's where we draw the line.
Having said that however, we also believe different people and different cultures have the right to eat what they want.
We know the stories about people eating pet food, but how about people eating pets as food.
We realize our standards may be completely different from the rest of the world but we simply refuse to be open minded when it comes to traditional, domesticated animals as a source for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Perhaps we are hypocritical because we eat most meats but not domesticated meats, that's okay, we can live with our hypocrisy.
Dog – Bosintang Soup (South Korea)
This very popular dish is served in many South Korean restaurants, even though there is a ban on dog meat in the country. Dog meat is boiled and mixed with green onions, leeks, ginger, garlic and Taro stalk. A particular mint herb known as perilla is also added to disguise the intense smell that dog meat has when cooked.
While not known for great flavor, this dish is famous for its medicinal benefits.
Horse – Basashi (Japan)
Raw horse meat is served with the sashimi and a little soy sauce on the side. This is like an appetizer or finger food you might find at a local bar in Japan,
Tarantula – Fried Tarantulas (Cambodia)
People love this in in Cambodia and has even gained something of a cult following among tourists.
A smaller sized species of tarantula calledpan fried by the hundreds.
It's claimed they have great natural flavor, with only a pinch of garlic or salt added.
Mouse – Baby Mice Wine (Korea)
This consists of rice wine combined with fermented baby mice. People believe this stuff can help cure all kinds of ailments from asthma to liver disease.
To make it, days old mice babies who don’t even have hair or open eyes are dropped into a bottle of rice wine and left to sit for about a year. It's been described as tasting like “roadkill mixed with gasoline”.
Cat-(Korea and China)
A very popular stew like like dish in Korea and China.
China's first man in space has said that Chinese astronauts eat dog meat to keep up their strength when they orbit around the earth.
"Many of my friends are curious about what we eat (in space) and think that the astronauts must have some expensive delicacies, like shark's fin or abalone," he wrote. "Actually we ate quite normal food, there is no need to keep it a secret," he added.
He listed a menu including braised chicken, steamed fish and dog meat, which is famed for its nutritional benefits in China.
A local proverb in the south of China is that "Huajiang dog is better for you than ginseng", referring to the medicinal root that plays a vital role in traditional Chinese medicine.
He also added that the diet had been specially designed by Chinese nutritionists and that dog is widely eaten in northern China, where it is believed to help battle the winter cold.
It comes down to this, dog eating in South Korea is generally accepted and in western cultures it's horrifying. But there is a man in South Korea who's trying to change minds in a country where the practice of eating dog meat is considered a cuisine.
For this man, this has nothing to do with being a vegetarian or pushing a political agenda. In fact his concern for these dogs is more sincere than many of the well known animal rights groups that make a lot of noise these days.
Every weekend in Seoul, Lee Won-bok heads to the malls and arranges graphic photos of dogs being hanged and butchered as they're prepared for market. He asks people to sign a petition that he can take to legislators so they will enforce the laws prohibiting the consumption of dog meat. It seems like a meaningless battle because officials ignore the laws.
"People don't comprehend the suffering these dogs endure," Lee said, "They may vaguely realize that people still eat dogs. But they need to know what happens to the animals."
As South Koreans have gradually embraced Western his campaign is gaining strength. With more dog owners the opposition of eating dog meat grows in support.
"Dog eating in Korea is not going to end in one day or one year," Lee said. "But it's only a matter of time."
Without trying to sound like hypocrites, those of us in the Voodoo Kitchen are big meat eaters. But even meat eaters love and take care of their pets, that's why we participate in dog and cat adoptions and support sincere groups which really care about the welfare of animals.
An appeal has been made to the central government (not to stop butchering dogs) but to propose categorizing dogs as livestock in order to regulate the trade of dog meat and improve sanitation inspections. Apparently there is an absence of regulations regarding the sale of dog meat, which is considered a delicacy in Korea. City officials claim that this categorization of dogs as livestock will force things to improve.
“The real problem is, we cannot regulate the sanitation process of how dog meat is served due to the lack of regulations. We will have a series of public hearings to discuss the issue as it’s a necessary step,” said one official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
Dogs are regarded the same as horses, donkeys, rabbits and deer; not as beef and chicken are considered livestock. This permits mass breeding, butchering and serving of dog meat in restaurants, but does not allow authorities to apply the same regulations regarding livestock to dog meat.
Animal rights groups and dog lovers have been extremely vocal condemning the treatment of dogs in South Korea. Back in 2001, a similar law was proposed to set up proper regulations concerning dog meat and its categorization as “livestock,” but it was scrapped due to pressure from animal rights protesters.
Dog meat is considered a natural product in Korea, and it doesn't appear that there will be any change in attitude anytime soon. For now, the way the laws are set up the authorities can only take a legal action against individuals who butcher dogs in a brutal way or cause pollution to the environment during the slaughter process.
