By Nick Engelfried
Claiming the lives of tens of millions of domestic canines every year, the brutal dog meat trade is–for many people–one of the most shocking industries on the planet. From stray dogs snatched off the streets, to pets stolen from loving homes, to dogs bred in factory farm-like conditions specifically for human consumption, the trade in dog meat subjects its victims to unimaginable cruelty before their lives are tragically cut short.

Dogs are not, of course, not the only domestic animals raised and killed by the millions to be turned into meat. Partly for this reason, it would be a mistake to say that countries where eating dog meat are necessarily any more cruel in their treatment of animals than Western countries like the United States. However, it’s undeniable that millions of people find the consumption of dogs particularly inhumane–and that this is increasingly the case, even in countries where the dog meat trade has a long history.

Indeed, while as many as 30 million dogs are still slaughtered for their meat annually–including an estimated 10-20 million in China alone–we may be nearing a global tipping point where the public in most countries comes to see the practice as abhorrent. If the dog meat trade is eventually banned or at least dramatically curtailed worldwide, it will be primarily thanks to the hard work of animal rights activists in places like China, Korea, and Vietnam who are trying to end the cruel industry for good.

When considering today’s dog meat industry, which is most prominent in East Asian countries but also occurs as far away as Mexico and Switzerland, it is important to understand the hard reality that people have been eating dogs since prehistoric times. The practice likely began after dogs became domesticated, during times of starvation when their meat may have been the only readily available animal protein.

Over time, in some parts of the world, eating dogs became an accepted cultural practice even when it wasn’t necessary for survival. The countries where people eat the most dogs today include not only China but Indonesia, South Korea, and Vietnam.

The modern dog meat industry is undoubtedly a brutal and cruel one, where dogs are often quite literally tortured to death. They may be beaten, killed by strangulation, or thrown into boiling water while still alive. The image of animals whom many of us regard as pets being treated this way quite rightly fills many people with rage.

Unfortunately, fury at the dog meat industry has too often veered into making racist characterizations of the people and countries where this practice occurs. This is unfair and counterproductive; after all, while killing dogs for food is cruel, it is probably no more cruel than eating pigs, whose level of intelligence is similar to that of dogs. Factory farms in countries like the US subject millions of pigs, cows, chickens, and other animals to levels of cruelty arguably just as bad as those suffered by dogs in parts of Asia.

None of this negates the fact that the dog meat trade is an animal cruelty nightmare–which is why so many people are fighting to end. In some places, the tide may have already turned decisively. For example, last year South Korea passed national legislation that will ban the dog meat industry, phasing it out over a three year period and imposing penalties of up to three years in prison for violators.

Other countries have already banned the dog meat industry, including the Philippines, India, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Singapore. While work remains to be done to ensure these laws are all enforced to the full degree possible, these signs of progress show more and more people oppose the idea of eating dogs. According to Humane World for Animals, 57 percent of the population in South Korea supports the country’s new dog meat ban.

So, why does the dog meat trade persist in some places? Partly, it has to do with mistaken or outdated beliefs, such as belief traditionally held in Korea that dogs used for meat–which are usually of mixed, indeterminate breed–are somehow different and less capable of feeling than purebreds popular as pets. This isn’t so different from the belief held by many people in the United States that the lives of farm animals grown for meat are less important than those of the dogs and cats we value as home companions.

Disturbingly, some people also believe making dogs feel pain before they are slaughtered actually improves the quality of the meat–meaning at least some of the sadistic treatment of the animals before death is intentional.

The conditions inside the notorious slaughterhouses where dogs are killed for meat are hard to stomach. In China, undercover investigators with Animal Equality have reported cases of dogs clubbed and stabbed to death as other dogs watched. Some of these animals are raised specifically for consumption on farms where they spend their brief lives in cramped cages before being sent to slaughter. Others are strays picked up off the streets, or pets stolen from loving homes. Unfortunately, the theft of dogs in China has become a lucrative criminal industry made possible by the dog meat trade. Yet, even within China, a majority of people do not support the consumption of dog meat.

According to Humane World for Animals, only 20 percent of people in China have ever eaten dog meat, with an even smaller number who consume it regularly. This, coupled with rising public concern about animal cruelty in China and other countries where the dog meat trade still occurs, presents a real opportunity to end this practice–starting with laws making it illegal, like those already on the books in places like South Korea.

Perhaps no one has said it better than JungAh Chae, Executive Director of Humane Society International in Korea, who greeted the country’s dog meat ban by saying, “We reached a tipping point where most Korean citizens reject eating dogs and want to see this suffering consigned to the history books…While my heart breaks for all the millions of dogs for whom this change has come too late, I am overjoyed that South Korea can now close this miserable chapter in our history and embrace a dog-friendly future.”

Countless animal lovers around the world can agree with that statement as we fight for a future where no dogs–or any animals–are needlessly killed and slaughtered for food.

Photo credit: Rob Sheridan

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Nick Engelfried Writes About Animals, the Environment, and Conservation for the ForceChange network