(PICTURE: The ceramic dog is safer than the white one.)A couple weeks ago, Huyen and I were driving on the highway at night when a truck flew by me. As the truck went by I heard a really strange noise. I was pretty sure the truck was carrying thousands of chickens. A few minutes later the truck was pulled over on the side of the road and I was able to get a glimpse of the goods in the back. And well, it wasn't chickens. The truck was carrying HUNDREDS of dogs.
As a dog lover, I instantly felt bad. However, I've been living in Vietnam long enough to know that eating dog is just part of their culture. And well, I'm not going to judge them for it.
What I will judge though is a story Huyen told me the other day. I told Huyen that eventually I want to get a dog. Huyen told me that her family had a dog when she was growing up. She said they loved the dog which was named Lou (she said Vietnamese people name their dogs after Westerners: Joe, Lou, Bob, etc.). I asked what happened to her dog and she said that robbers killed her. I was shocked and asked what happened. She said that robbers had come into her house when she was young and had trapped her dog. I assumed the robbers trapped the dog so they could steal things from Huyen's family house. I asked her what the robbers took when they robbed the house. Huyen looked at me and said, "I told you. They took the dog." Apparently robbers in the country break into houses to steal dogs and sell them to the markets. Yeah, ridiculous.
The other day, when driving back from Huyen's parents house, this motorbike passed us:
I couldn't help but think, "I hope these dogs aren't some little girl's pet."
(PICTURE: Lets hope these dogs were going to the pound.)
8 comments:
What a horrible post and picture to have on my birthday!! It has been decided that you cannot meet Lilah until her first birthday, ooohhhh wait....
You may not judge, but I will. That's FUCKED UP. Killing little girls is part of China's culture -- will you refuse to judge that too? The "it's part of their culture" excuse is a LOAD OF SHIT". And you know what? America's treatment of farm animals is just as f'd up. No excuses there either.
I agree. That is absolutely disgusting. It is completely fair to judge something that is exploitative and abusive of innocent creatures, whether or not it's a cultural practice.
We think this post should be removed. It is degrading to our canine friends. Why advertise such a horrible practice.
"It is completely fair to judge something that is exploitative and abusive of innocent creatures, whether or not it's a cultural practice."
WELL SAID! Couldn't agree more. The culture argument is BS and is a lame rationalization for immoral actions. If the "culture" argument held water, who knows, there might still be slavery, because "Hey, it's just the culture and I wont judge."
Well you know what, people with decency judge abusive actions.
To all people above who want to judge:
I was in the US last year. Many times on the road, I felt really bad when I saw a huge truck carrying thousands of chickens without any protection for them under the heavy rain.
The Vietnamese might love eating dogs, but they do it perhaps one time per month. How many chickens do you, an average American, eat per week, per month?
For me, dogs or chickens, they both are creatures which have feelings and should be respected.
Before you judge, you think.
Ben said he didn't judge the culture of eating dogs, not the "culture" of trapping and killing them. There is no such "culture" in Vietnam.
PS. I don't eat dogs, and I try to eat less chickens.
Marcus--you are quite right. There are documentaries on America's inhumane treatment of farm animals, as well, and many of us choose not to eat them (or purchase meat only from farms that use humane practices). No one is saying it is Vietnam, as the second post pointed out. It doesn't mean we have to like the practice.
Marcus said: "For me, dogs or chickens, they both are creatures which have feelings and should be respected."
Agree. I think that you and #2 are in agreement.
The point to be taken away is that for westerners, the idea of treating dogs as meat is horrifying. If anything, that feeling we get should be a way to examine the way we treat chickens, cows, etc -- in other words... with no respect. The ability to see a thinking, feeling, sentient being suffering in a dog is EXACTLY what should make us examine the worldwide treatment of animals -- NOT a way to justify both their treatment and ours.
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