Dog Meat - Eating a (hot) dog
All those photos are Copyright © by Tristan Savatier - All Rights Reserved.
No commercial use without written permission.
WARNING! This album contains very GRAPHIC photos, not suitable for kids and people with a weak stomach!
Modern western culture considers that eating a dog is cruel, barbaric and disgusting (not illegal, though), but we have no problem eating all other sorts of animals, as long as they are not called pets.
But for the vast majority of people on earth, cultural values are very different. Dog meat is considered a delicacy in some Asian cultures (including China, Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Mayanmar, part of Indonesia), and indeed cooked dog meat is very tasty and protein rich. Maybe you should try it some day (if you are not vegetarian).
By the way, I think if westerners had to slaughter the animal themself each time they want to eat meat, there would be a lot more vegetarians! Most people would not even want to kill a chicken!
In Vietnamese, "Thịt chó" means dog meat (Thịt = meat, chó = dog), and you see this sign on countless restaurants and shops around the country. In many regions, it is much more common to find dog meat than beef on the market.
"Food dogs", i.e. dogs raised for meat, are not pets and they have no names. They are bred in farms, just like pigs, beefs, lambs, chicken and other farm animals. They are probably bred in cages, which may be cruel but is common for most farmed animals anywhere in the world. They are put down just like any other animal used for food, usually by slitting the throat and bleeding the animal until it passes out.
This album contains photos that I took in dog meat markets in Sulawesi (Indonesia) and in Vietnam, and an interesting series of photos that I took in Vietnam, that shows the process involved in preparing a dog for dinner, from slaughtering to cutting-up, eviscerating, be-boning, sausage-making, cooking and of course eating.
I do not personally condone cruelty to animal (any animal), and these photos are not for promoting the Asian tradition of eating dog. But do you really think that eating a dog is "worse" than eating a cow, a pig (pigs are said to be more intelligent than dogs), a lamb or a chicken?
Yes, In the U.S., people get prison terms for what Asians do to dogs and for what Europeans do to horses. But in India, people also get jailed for what Westerners do to cows (eating cows / beef is barbaric and repulsive for Hindu people).
I was wondering if it is actually illegal to eat dog meat in the US (or for restaurants, to serve dog meat to a customer who orders some ?).
Here is the information I got from Steve Wertz: There is no federal law against eating/serving dog meat. In Hawaii, for example, it's perfectly legal as long as the dog is not a stray or has been killed inhumanely. Other states laws vary. The majority of states have laws against commercial uses of dog meat, but not necessarily personal consumption in the home.
In California, since there are many Chinese Americans, they had to make it illegal to eat dog meat or any "animal traditionally or commonly kept as a pet or companion ".(California PENAL CODE Section 598b).
But wait... "animal traditionally or commonly kept as a pet or companion "... "traditionally or commonly" ? what does that mean, precisely? I suppose they want it to mean "cats and dogs", but a lawyer could certainely argue that this law is much too vague to be enforceable. For exemple, does this cover fish pets (kept in fishbowls)? hmmm...
Interestingly enough, California has a much stronger protection to prevent horses from being slaughtered for the purpose of eating them as meat (California PENAL CODE Section 598c).
I've heard that the US exports a lot of horse meat to europe (where is it commonly eaten, especially in Nederland, just like cows and pigs), but they have to slaughter the horses in states where it is allowed.
I like this un-attributed quote:
"If one condemns eating of the meat of one particular animal, one must condemn the eating of the meats of ALL animals. Those who do not are just a pot calling a kettle black."
The photos from Indonesia were taken in 2016 in the meat market in Manado, in Northern Sulawesi island. In parts of Sulawesi, another common meat sold in meat markets are black fruit bats meat.
The photos from Vietnam were taken one evening of November 2005. The first series (up to the dinner) was taken in Bac Ha, a small town in the Northern part of Vietnam, not far from the Chinese border. The following photos showing dog meat shops on markets were taken on various markets of the region, including Bac Ha, Cao Bằng and Lang Sơn.
In case you are wondering, I did not order the dog for dinner in Vietnam, I just stumbled on the scene in the street and documented it, since I had my camera.
Some of these photos have been published in the 25 Jan 06 issue of Bild-Zeitung, Germany's
largest mass circulation newspaper. See also this post in the BildBlog.
NEW DEVELOPMENT: Some of the photos of this series have been published on March 7, 2009 by a major Thai newspaper called manager.co.th, without my permission. This is a typical case of copyright infringement. See the article and readers comments (in Thai).
NEW DEVELOPMENT: After I published this set, I got BANNED from the Dogs! Dogs! Dogs! group - even though i did not post any of these photos in their pool (i just provided the link for anyone interested). Censoring / banning me for this shows how most westerners are inceadibly shocked by these images, to the point of considering censorship to prevent other from seeing them. Punish a photo-journalist for his good work? Amazing...
NEW DEVELOPMENT: Those photos have been illegally used to make a slideshow video entitled "dogs market in hanoi" promoting racism and hate speech against asian people. This video was published on Youtube. It has been removed after I filed a copyright enfringement claim. If you see other copies of this video, please notify me immediately.
NEW DEVELOPMENT: Yahoo/Flickr required that most of the photos in this set be marked 'restricted', i.e. CENSORED from non-members. Flicker members must set their SafeSearch Filter to OFF in their Flickr account's Privacy and Permissions tab, or watch them on www.dog-meat.com .
PREVIOUS DEVELOPMENT: Most of the photos in this album have now been classified as "restricted" (safety level) by Flickr (they say those are "inappropriate / contentious images", not allowed to be public according to the Flickr Community Guidelines). You can read the discussion regarding Flickr Censorship in this forum.
Some interesting and related sites:
What's wrong with eating man's best friend? - By William Saletan
- everything2.com - Dog, the other white meat
- Authentic Vietnamese Cooking : Food from a Family Table (Hardcover)
- The French consumption of dog meat
- Dog Meat: Cultural Bias & Food Choices
- Eating dogs: animal abuse or cultural gap?
- Taiwan Bans The Selling Of Dog Meat
- ASIAN ANIMAL PROTECTION NETWORK: Food Dogs
- www.geocities.com/yoons_choi/nodogmeat3.html
- Korea Animal Protection Society
- Where else dogs and cats are eaten
- CATS - FRIEND OR FOOD? - by Sarah Hartwell
This series is part of my Vietnam photo album.
You can also check these smaller selections of photos on selected subjects:
- Tribe people of Vietnam: A selection of my best photos of Tribe people from Northern Vietnam.
- Road construction in Vietnam.
Don't hesitate to leave a comment.
In some countries, there are chicken, lobster, goat, etc, pets. Yet we still eat chicken and lamb. Does that mean we're slaughtering good pets? No. Why? Some animals are 'bred' to be eaten. Does that make it any less inhumane? The act of eating animals that are bred especially for consumption was never what nature had programmed us to do. We should only take what's necessary for survival and not to bred others just to eat them.
If eating dog meant is cruel, so is eating any other type of meat. Do we not slaughter and dissemble other life-forms and cook them the same way? It can be highly disturbing to some, but that's why there's the option to turn vegetarian.
I think we shouldn't be biased just because you can see the process of cooking dog meat. It is cruel, but it's not the people's fault, or their culture. Because if we think hard about it, everyone in this world has taken a life (no matter how small)at least once in their lifetime, unconsciously or consciously.
The reason i put this up was because many of you are just b*tching for the sake of doing so. If it seems like i was being more biased to one side of my post then by all means flame me, but what can i do right?
I hope some people will make an efford look things from a distance, take some time to read your explanations, and at least take a thought at other realities and cultures and uses being as good as ours.
Here i can read so much stupidity from people that don`t see the difference between a pet OR red meat!
DOGS are FOOD or PETS! The difference is OR !!!
I really give a *** about people in West World trying to save dogs from becoming menue-members in the 3rd world + making this to a worldwide problem.
Please help us by contacting your representatives to pass HR 503 and S 727 and while you are at it also fight for HR 1018 for our wild horses. We use to have 2 million wild horses, we now have less than 33,000, if that. The BLM management has been killing off our wild horses year by year. Thank you. Liane
More disgusting is the smiling chinese woman. They were thinking you guys were friendly and curiously appreciting the peculiar way of local custom. They didnt know your reasons! They were told to accept it since childhood. Don;t you find the one showing off? They thought you would like it as they did and showed off to manifest their friendship. If you guys were disgusting, why not point out reasoning directly to the chinese feeling nothing about it
I know your guys feel antipathy against the chinese dinner. But believe me, the chinese fancying those things are of low quality! There are 1.3 billion chinese among which most are poor and pitiful. there is no guarantee that everyboby are evenly educated to show mercy
I am NOT condoning animal cruelty, but eating a dog that has otherwise been treated well doesn't get me angry in any way whatsoever.
Funny how you think you can judge how good of a vet nurse I am online though. ;)
It gives people a huge cultural insight, and I for one don't mind broadening my horizon, even if it's sometimes uncomfortable! I hope it makes people think!
I wouldn't be. ;)
Maybe dogs don't count because they're cute and fluffy... but eating pigs, cows and chicken is PERFECTLY okay! :D
If you want to practice what you preach, get out there and help them get the food YOU think is right and teach them about animal welfare! Open a dog shelter or something! These people are just getting by.
I myself am an animal lover and have been volunteering for the Danish equivalent of the SPCA since I was a child. I own two dogs, both rescues, as well as a cat and three ferrets, and I often take in abused animals and re-home them, paying everything out of my own pocket. Yet, if I were to visit someplace where it's normal to eat and be served dog meat, I would try it in a heart beat! As long as I knew the animal was treated well and put down humanely, like I do with any other kind of meat I eat!
I have eaten almost everything - kangaroo, camel, crocodile, rabbit, hares, boars, squirrel and just about every meat offered in the western world, and I'm happy I had these experiences- cultural and culinary!
And if it makes me unloved by God, a barbarian and uncivilized, I say it's worth it! I'm much richer than most of you people posting snide comments.
...And I'm a vet nurse with an education and 10 years experience, GASP!
thanks for your excellent comment!
interesting set, strong, descriptive. Not that cruel when you ever been to the buther's. thanks for sharing.