Yes! We Eat Dog Meat
"There is a food called restorative soup in Korea. Some people call it nutrition soup. It is dog meat. Many foreigners who visit Korea ask "Do Koreans really eat dogs?" Some of the Western media treated Koreans as savages for eating dog meat when the Olympic games were held.
"Whenever Koreans were asked about it, most of them could not answer the question logically or else got very up upset, but should we really feel embarrassed about an old part of our culture?
"Northern China (Manchuria) and Korea are very cold during the winter. So, a long time ago, it was very difficult to raise cattle, and it was also impossible to eat beef because the cow was the main farming tool at that time. Of course beef was rare. Yellow dogs grew well even in the cold weather without any special food or care.
"In fact, they were not pets but just wandering dogs. Koreans called them ‘manure dogs.’ The dog is a familiar animal to humans. But the family relationship has been very strong in Korea, so Koreans did not treat dogs as pets. That’s why Koreans do not have much affection for these wandering dogs, which eat leftovers and manure.
"Anyway, for this reason, people in Northern China and Korea started to eat dog. According to some scientists’ research, dog meat contains enzymes which are similar to ours. This is what makes it easy to digest. So dog meat was recognized as a special energy-giving food. From ancient times, dried dog meat is good for sexual energy, but nothing is proven about that. Some of the Western media say as if all Koreans ate dog meat, but this is not true.
"A TV reporter heard that some Swiss people in the Alps ate dog meat, so he went to visit a mountain village in the Alps. But the Swiss would not tell the truth to the reporter. When the camera crew arrived in the small town, they saw a little black dog wagging its tail in front of a house. The next day they visited the same house, but they could not find the little dog. Instead, they found a lump of meat in the kitchen. The Swiss refused to say what it was and the little dog was never seen again.
"A world fair was held in Chicago. Some Euopean participants missed dog meat, their regional food, so Americans made hot dogs for them with pork instead of dog meat. A certain foreign newspaper said that this might have been the origin of the hot dog. Another newspaper told of an American who went to a restaurant in Manchuria. He asked if they had hot dogs. The Chinese chef could not speak English well but he did catch the words ‘hot’ and ‘dog’. After a while, a bowl of hot meat soup was served to the American. The surprised American asked "What is it?" The Chinese man answered innocently, "What you ordered, of course, hot dog!"
"A well-known French actress has been very active for animal love since her retirement. A few years ago, she held a news conference and asked Koreans to stop eating dog meat, and that said if they didn’t, she would boycott Korean goods. Of course, she is known as a vegetarian, but if she feels that way, how can she buy goods which are made by French people who eat frogs, snails, veal etc.?
"There are no Koreans who eat their own dogs. Dogs for eating are raised just like snails are raised in France. Until the 16th century European nobles even ate swans for Christmas dinner.
"It is really unreasonable that some Western people always talk about animal love, and hire dog sitters and dog garbage men. They even build dog hotels and restaurants and have special cars for cleaning the street after dogs. Germans spend about two trillion won for dog food for a year. Dog chocolate is three times more expensive than their own chocolate, but it sells very well.
"What can they say about dogs being more respected than human beings? A lot of African children are dying of starvation while Western dogs exercise to lose weight in dog gyms."
February 25, 2001
