"Eating dog meat... ewww"

Dogs have been domesticated by most part of the countries for centuries and they are now considered a man's best friend, but it's true, in some part of East and Southeast Asia, dog meat is still readily available on the street.

I have been researching online, and found a lot of different opinions on this issue. Animal Freedom claims that eating dog is inhumane, and they urge Korea to stop this action immediately or they would boycott them. While animal cruelty is certainly not acceptable by any standards, their complaint did not channel to the Koreans, instead, it stirred up more racial hate towards Korean. So is eating dogs an animal abuse or a cultural gap that we haven't recognized?

I am not here to comment who's right or who's wrong. Eating dogs, since ancient Asian times, has served a long-lasting history and an important cultural role. I find myself agreeing on this anonymous person's letter to Animal Freedom's organizers. Like myself, he is not standing on the side of animal abuse, but he thinks that instead of banning dog meat (which has been legally banned in 1990), there should be a better system of butchery:

I myself, who has never eaten dog or cat meat, am against eating those animals in an emotional way. However I don't believe those Koreans, who see dogs and cats as food, will listen to others (especially westerners) who have also two morals in their way of living. For example, Western people are eating much more meat in daily life than Korean people and a lot of western people think having pets is the best way of loving animals. Most Korean people truly agree that brutal killing of dogs and cats should stop. Even though law has forbid it since early 1990, it sometimes happens still illegally. However it takes time. Some Koreans think the way of butchering dogs by hanging and beating to death makes the meat more tender and tastier. I advice people to persuade the Korean government to do a better job on stopping this illegal and brutal butchery. In most cases, dogs (not pets) are raised in farms and killed by electrocution just as cows and pigs. This is more civilized than some French people who make 'foie gras', using pipes to force food into the throats of geese to make their livers bigger and tastier.

Dog meat is popular in these Asian countries, not because Asians are cold blooded, but it's because of the geographical restraints. Because 70% of the land in Korea are mountains, it is almost impossible for them to breed animals that are bigger than the size of a dog.

Again, comparing the West and the East. Why is the East (or even Africa) always have to be exotic, whereas the West is always seen as civilized? After years of colonial domination, isn't it time for the West to listen to these countries and learn to appreciate their culture?