A very small victory: Shenzhen bans consumption of dogs and cats

Thank you man, hope you make a concerted effort. This made me happy reading this this morning, just the thought of kidnapping other peoples pets and torturing them before selling them to restaurants makes me turn inside, i hope they end this

 

One small step for China! Bravo. They must keep going.

 

It's a good step but my understanding is most of the eating of dogs is now done in rural parts of the country such as Guangxi and Yunnan Provinces.

This is one reason why I'm so against those who blame this disease on Chinese culture as Chinese culture isn't just the eating and trade in exotic animals. When my dad was growing up in Hong Kong there were still a lot of people eating dog and my dad would tell me stories about unscrupulous butchers who would steal dogs from rich neighborhoods and then sell the meat in those same neighborhoods. Now it would be very difficult to find dog meat in Hong Kong because while there still may be some people who still do eat that meat the vast majority of people in Hong Kong find it reprehensible.

There are massive problems in the PRC and problems that contributed to this disease. The Wildlife trade, poor regulation and sanitation. A lot of these problems come down to corruption where officials don't enforce laws and regulations, enforce them selectively and are too interested in protecting their own positions and reputations. To me this is the biggest problem not that Chinese Culture as a whole is to blame and certainly not the millions of ethnic Chinese that live outside the PRC or other Asians.

 

Very good post and I agree. Chinese culture is very complex. It's not even the same in the PRC as the culture in Guangzhou is very different from the culture in Harbin.

 

incorrect. i recently saw a video from a american/chinese hiker/biker vlogger who had the same impression but decided to make a hidden video documentary. he was able to find in bejing, shangai, just off dense city centers areas.

 

Seems like a debate that should be internal to China and other countries where this is a practice. For me as a Westerner, I don't care if they eat dog in China. Whatever they wanna do.

 

I don't see the difference between eating dogs and eating pigs.

And China eats 10MM dogs a year, out of a country of over a billion it shows that it's a very tiny part of the population that does this. How does this become the "culture of China"

Eating dogs and even the wet markets are a red herring I believe meant to demonize Chinese people and spread hate.

The real issue is the wildlife trade. That needs to end - not just for consumption either. And here is where the PRC is moving too slowly. The wild life trade needs to be banned worldwide. Wild animals are disease reservoirs and a risk to humanity.

 

You do understand what "most of" means? I have no doubt if you look very hard you could find people eating dog in Hong Kong. If you look very hard you can probably find people eating dog in America.

This is a flaw of inductive logic. Just because exceptions can be found doesn't mean that applies to the majority.

 

If we just consider meat is meat eating dog, cat or bat for that matter isn't much different than eating pigs or chickens. Most of Humanity though consider dogs and cats different from pigs. It's not fair to pigs since many studies have shown they are probably as intelligent or more than dogs. The problem though is that since most people don't eat dogs eating dogmeat is truly a black market thing with no sanitary or health regulations so the chances of possible sickness from eating dog is probably higher. For most countries pork production and handling is regulated and even then we still get out breaks of diseases.

I fully agree on the problems with the wild life trade and even though some might downplay it there are many people even in the PRC working to stop it. I will say again if the PRC can get a hold of corruption in general that will do a lot. Also the wildlife trade isn't just a problem for the PRC. It is a worldwide problem going from the former Soviet Union to here in America. In the US it is less about exotic food or medicine but it is the exotic pet trade.

 

Eating dog meat has been a tradition for several thousand of years in China and Korea and many more countries.
The ban is unnecessary and will not hold.

 

Bats are problematic for the same reason birds are. Flyers tend to carry far more viruses than non-flyers, the understanding i have is because flying takes up so much energy, bats and birds need to be able to expend energy even with a viral infection, therefore they fight the infection differently than other mammals which makes them more likely to carry disease for a longer period of time.

Most of the deadly viruses have their origin in bats or birds. Those are two wild species we need be very careful off, and why chicken farms are problematic as well. It's very easy for wild animals (including birds) to introduce a virus to a packed chicken farm where the virus can spread to the entire population.

This is why the wild life trade is so dangerous - its because animals in the wild have a much higher propensity to come in contact with bats and be an intermediary.

 

Welcome to the... 18th century?

 

Yeah, great ****ing idea.

Whatever they want to do.

 

You're a brain washed chinese citizen. Keep telling yourself that bat, bear bile etc is ok, and its fine to skin dogs alive and boil them. Seriously, go **** yourself you're a damn robot

 

Let me first say I don't eat dogs or cats. That being said, how is it morally different than eating pigs or rabbits? Emotional attachment?

 

Sounds like a good argument for normalizing and promoting the practice so that there can be regular suppliers who can make an honest living farming it.