South Korea - Dogs Categorized as Livestock?

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.


Where's Andy Dick these days?

Hundreds Join The Whole Foods BUY-COTT

TOWN AND COUNTRY, MO.
You know all about the Whole Foods boycott but now it's the buy-cott.
Hundreds of shoppers who are also members of the St. Louis Tea Party plan to buy a week's worth of food to support the grocery store chain.
The buy-cott comes after health care reform supporters decided to boycott the chain because Whole Foods CEO John Mackeyis against President Obama's health care plan.

We had the video at one time, but it's been removed by the news source.

The Japanese and those Watermelons

We have to give the Japanese credit for creativity and keeping things fun.
Really, who else would come up with the Square Watermelon, the Heart Watermelon and the Pyramid melon?
Why? You ask, well, besides its novelty value, it's because the Japanese are not boring, they like to mix things up, so why not?
So let's take a closer look at the melons and then even a closer look at your wallet.

Figure about $80 or more for one of the square babies but if you have your heart set on the heart shaped melons your cost is only 15750 yen ($160)
This expensive fruit is the result of 3 years of experiments to reach the perfect shape, and the Kumamoto farmers that have created that, have produced just 20 of them this year.

Then of course, there's the Pyramid watermelon. Because the method of cultivation is quite difficult compared to the cubic one, between five and ten pyramid watermelons are produced each year. As a result, expect to pay 80,000 yen (650 US Dollars)