Would you like a Doggy Bag?

I am moving to South Korea in a year to teach English as a second language, and every time I mention this to someone, their eyes get wide and their mouths gape open in disbelief. First they ask why, then they ask how, and then they ask “Are you going to eat dogs?” Many people associate Asian countries with hanging the first born girl by her heels and throwing her out with Tuesday’s trash, bright wardrobes that emulate the latest Anime fad, and the pink, skinned carcass of dogs and pigs dangling in steaming restaurant windows. I’ve been asked this question at least twenty time since I was offered the position, and I have to confess that my answer is never the same.

Do I really want to eat a dog, such loyal creatures that I was raised with and looked at as members of my family? Could I really chew on meat that was once covered in hair meant for caressing and snuggling with? Today, I’ll say “why not.” I have to say to myself “you don’t give your bacon a name or face while it’s laying in grease on your plate in the morning… so what’s different with a dog? If I don’t ponder my beef’s love of kisses and sweet alfalfa before it got shot, buttered, and breaded, perhaps I won’t with a dog!”

If you look at the facts, many countries across the globe consume dog meat and consider it a delicacy. While in some countries dog meat was used strictly as a means of survival, there are many countries who still consume it and it has varying degrees of acceptability. Tonga, an archipelago in the South Pacific, view dog meat as a delicacy. The Swiss enjoy dog jerky and dog sausage on their menus, and dogs are eaten by various groups in Nigeria and are linked to having medicinal powers.

My research on whether or not the whole “dogs are a main staple in the South Korean diet” is true has actually surprised me. They do eat dogs and it is very common to find dog on the menu over there. Like our farms here that breed cows and pigs and chickens for consumption, South Korea has dog farms. The South Korean dog meat industry involves over one million dogs and several thousand restaurants. Ten percent of the population eats dog meat. There is pressure from animal activists worldwide for the South Korean government to discontinue the dog meat industry because it’s “inhumane and moral.”

Eating a dog is a question of morals to me because I was raised in a country where people spend more money on their animals than what some can afford to spend on their own children. We take them to get groomed, we dress them in rhinestone costumes, we invest money into their vet bills…the VIP treatment continues, however it wasn’t until recently that South Koreans started to share our affection for these creatures and start to see them as pets and companions. It is simple to them, though. There are dogs who are raised in the city as pets, and there are dogs in the country who are bound to be stir fry.

It’s funny when I say “yes, I will probably taste dog” to some people. I watch them gasp and cringe, but quickly explain that it really is no different than enjoying the salmon on your plate while your pet beta fish floats blissfully in its bowl on the coffee table. It’s not much different than the lamb that nudges you for pets at the petting zoo, and you want to take him home with you (to be cuddled, not cooked!) just because he is too damn cute. If I do happen to try the dog, I’ll try not to think of the fat, tight little bellies of nursing puppies or the lapping kisses that they just love to plant on our cheeks. I’ll just try to enjoy the marinade.