On the Subject of Dogs…

Many people have written me asking if I’ve tried dog yet. I haven’t (that I know of). Supposedly, it’s expensive. And isn’t as prevalent as it once was. The whole Leno Olympics joke thing sparked a new round of discussions. In the teacher’s room, another teacher vehemently asserted he would not ever try dog, because it’s a domesticated animal. I, in addition to other things, enjoy being the devil’s advocate from time to time.

me: There are many domesticated animals. Domesticated simply means to train to live in a human environment and be of use to humans. Do you eat cow? That’s a domesticated animal.

he: well, yeah.

me: so what’s the difference?

he: well, dogs are cute.

me: some people think cows are cute. or sheep. or pigs.

he: well, a dog is a person’s pet.

me: they don’t eat their pets. these are dogs raised to be eaten, just as Americans raise cows, sheep, etc.

he: well, I wouldn’t eat a horse

me: (a little confused by this logic) okay…

he: and monkeys are cute, too.

me: (even more confused) yes…

he: but they’re eaten in parts of the world

me: yes…

he: they’re even a delicacy.

me: so what’s your point?

he: that i would never try dog.

Okay, now I can’t even communicate with someone who speaks the same native language as I do. *sigh*

I think the whole “eating dogs” issue was summed up best by one of my high school students (from a journal entry):

We, Koreans, have very unique culture. It is eating dogs! When someone who lives in other country hears this culture, they may think Koreans eat their pets. But it is not. No one eats their own pets. There are eatable dogs that are different from pets. It is only our native culture and we are not bad people. Even in Korea, there are many people who don’t like to eat them. But I heard that dog meat is very delicious and are very good to our health. I saw many foreigners who don’t want to visit Korea because of eating dogs. It is ok. But I don’t like people who criticize it in spite of not knowing well. It is just our culture! They should recognize the cultural gap between their country and Korea.