4 ms·

Do we (USA) not eat horse and dog meat because we have special feelings for those animals?

by pbreit 11y ago

oska 11y ago
It's certainly true that there is a wide and long history of eating dog meat around the world [1]. However, I think a distinction can be made between eating the meat of a herbivore (horses) and eating the meat of a carnivore/omnivore (dogs). And I'd suggest that it is healthier to eat the meat of herbivores. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_meat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_meat
- douche 11y ago
  > However, I think a distinction can be made between eating the meat of a herbivore (horses) and eating the meat of a carnivore/omnivore (dogs). What distinction would that be? People eat bear-meat, hogs are at least partially omnivorous, and virtually every food species of fish and seafood is carnivorous. Or else a carrion-eater, like lobsters.
- testerooooooo 11y ago
  Dude, have you read anything about what pigs eat????
fractallyte 11y ago
Well, the other way around as well: those animals have evolved special feelings for us. It's harder to eat something when our conscience gets in the way...
- tluyben2 11y ago
  Pigs have too. If you raise them like pets they will have that same thing. There is no difference and people are hypocrites valuing one life over another that way. Edit; the will is do here; I had pet pigs and did not eat them, they are smart(er than dogs) and very rapidly bored. But a lot of fun. Very happy animals in the right environment.
louprado 11y ago
1) We domesticated horses and dogs to perform a service, not serve as food. These animals were not bred to be flavorful. 2) If you are eating a service animal, that implies it was either too sick or too old to be of service. An old or sick animal is unlikely to yield quality meat. 3) Domestication is a powerful force. With great power comes great responsibility. Warning, the next paragraph is dark. One of the most abominable animal abuses comes from eating dogs. Dogs are bred to be timid and sensitive. Consequently they are easily tormented. While it is an uncommon practice, in rural Korea dogs are tormented prior to butchering and then served in such a way to give the consumer an adrenaline buzz. These dogs are also a special farm-breed that is more flavorful. The above story was told to me by several hosts while I was in Korea.
- infinite8s 11y ago
  Do you disdain eating all meat? That kind of treatment is common for most factory livestock.
- codezero 11y ago
  1) Lots of people eat dog that is bred to be food: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_meat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_meat 2) Based on the article, the horse butcher claims that all their meat was from working horses, but that they were butchered before the "prime" of their life (before 9 years) or after 14 years because the meat is more tender then. These working horses are fed a good diet, so the meat is supposedly good tasting compared to farmed animals who are fed specific food to get them fat & large faster. The contradictory way in which we see one living creature's value over another is the reason I became a vegetarian. We bred dogs to be (insert reason that's not food) we also bred cows to be (insert reason that is food), We are the factor here, not the animals. Just because we bred animals to be a specific way doesn't itself justify the industrial slaughter of one versus another. With that said, my choice was: embrace eating dog, or stop eating meat. I chose the latter, but I fully support anyone who chooses the former, but hope they don't do so under the premise that one animal we control is somehow more appropriate to kill and eat than another.
  - 2muchcoffeeman 11y ago
iamthepieman 11y ago
In the US at least, horses are not raised for meat. This means that veterinarians use whatever drugs they deem necessary when treating horses many of which might make the meat toxic. I've had this told to me by several horse people including my wife and a horse vet but don't know how true it actually is.
- jessaustin 11y ago
  The dangers of drugs in horse meat are vastly exaggerated by those opposed to eating horse meat. The thing to remember is that drugs, especially those that might pose a problem, are expensive. As such, they might be in common use for e.g. valuable Thoroughbred stallions in Lexington KY but are vanishingly rare for swaybacked old "killer" horses fending for themselves on weeds and thornbushes on someone's back forty. Sure they might have been "worth" such drugs when they were younger, but that was years ago. Experience from cattle drugs indicates that everything is out of the system in 60 days.
- michael_h 11y ago
  Horses are raised for meat in the US, but they are exported.
PerfectElement 11y ago
Yes, there's absolutely no reason to believe pigs suffer less than dogs. In fact, they have similar cognitive levels. So we need to do some mental gymnastics to justify how we treat them. This behavior is labeled "moral schizophrenia" by some. We say that we recognize that animals are sentient and therefore deserve moral consideration and freedom from unnecessary suffering, but we often behave toward them as insentient things and treat them in ways that are diametrically opposed to any moral consideration of their interests. Unless we label them as pets, of course. Then they are automatically included in our circle of compassion. For a deeper look at the psychology behind this, I recommend this great TED talk: https://youtu.be/o0VrZPBskpg https://youtu.be/o0VrZPBskpg
- whatshisface 11y ago
  I think you make it sound more callous and arbitrary than it is. It's simple: we have an alliance with dogs and treat them as our friends. Had truffle pigs been as common as hunting dogs, we wouldn't eat as much bacon. Now that this alliance is vestigial, we may see it decay - perhaps you don't believe in it. Honestly, we probably feel more brotherhood with our work animals than we do with citizens of opposing countries. Makes sense, if someone came to rob your house the Soviets wouldn't bark. Then, there is the idea that dogs reciprocate. We know at least some do, and we know that nearly every dog owner will claim that theirs does, and we know that a sufficiently inbred poodle won't have the faculty for it. Ether way, we are all told that dogs our our buddies who want to help us. Who would eat a buddy that wanted to help you? How many bacon-eaters think that the pig would, if it could, keep them safe and help them find other things to eat? Probably none. (Note: I know that there are pig pets. Maybe they are friends, like dogs. If that's true, get the word out and porkchops stop tomorrow.)
  - jschwartzi 11y ago
    This is certainly how I feel about dogs and horses. They're both useful animals. I think the fact that they both have exposed sclera helps cement the alliance.

Do we (USA) not eat horse and dog meat because we have special feelings for those animals?

by pbreit 11y ago

Do we (USA) not eat horse and dog meat because we have special feelings for those animals?

oska 11y ago

It's certainly true that there is a wide and long history of eating dog meat around the world [1]. However, I think a distinction can be made between eating the meat of a herbivore (horses) and eating the meat of a carnivore/omnivore (dogs). And I'd suggest that it is healthier to eat the meat of herbivores. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_meat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_meat

douche 11y ago
> However, I think a distinction can be made between eating the meat of a herbivore (horses) and eating the meat of a carnivore/omnivore (dogs). What distinction would that be? People eat bear-meat, hogs are at least partially omnivorous, and virtually every food species of fish and seafood is carnivorous. Or else a carrion-eater, like lobsters.
testerooooooo 11y ago
Dude, have you read anything about what pigs eat????

fractallyte 11y ago

Well, the other way around as well: those animals have evolved special feelings for us. It's harder to eat something when our conscience gets in the way...

tluyben2 11y ago
Pigs have too. If you raise them like pets they will have that same thing. There is no difference and people are hypocrites valuing one life over another that way. Edit; the will is do here; I had pet pigs and did not eat them, they are smart(er than dogs) and very rapidly bored. But a lot of fun. Very happy animals in the right environment.

louprado 11y ago

1) We domesticated horses and dogs to perform a service, not serve as food. These animals were not bred to be flavorful. 2) If you are eating a service animal, that implies it was either too sick or too old to be of service. An old or sick animal is unlikely to yield quality meat. 3) Domestication is a powerful force. With great power comes great responsibility. Warning, the next paragraph is dark. One of the most abominable animal abuses comes from eating dogs. Dogs are bred to be timid and sensitive. Consequently they are easily tormented. While it is an uncommon practice, in rural Korea dogs are tormented prior to butchering and then served in such a way to give the consumer an adrenaline buzz. These dogs are also a special farm-breed that is more flavorful. The above story was told to me by several hosts while I was in Korea.

infinite8s 11y ago
Do you disdain eating all meat? That kind of treatment is common for most factory livestock.
codezero 11y ago
1) Lots of people eat dog that is bred to be food: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_meat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_meat 2) Based on the article, the horse butcher claims that all their meat was from working horses, but that they were butchered before the "prime" of their life (before 9 years) or after 14 years because the meat is more tender then. These working horses are fed a good diet, so the meat is supposedly good tasting compared to farmed animals who are fed specific food to get them fat & large faster. The contradictory way in which we see one living creature's value over another is the reason I became a vegetarian. We bred dogs to be (insert reason that's not food) we also bred cows to be (insert reason that is food), We are the factor here, not the animals. Just because we bred animals to be a specific way doesn't itself justify the industrial slaughter of one versus another. With that said, my choice was: embrace eating dog, or stop eating meat. I chose the latter, but I fully support anyone who chooses the former, but hope they don't do so under the premise that one animal we control is somehow more appropriate to kill and eat than another.
- 2muchcoffeeman 11y ago

iamthepieman 11y ago

In the US at least, horses are not raised for meat. This means that veterinarians use whatever drugs they deem necessary when treating horses many of which might make the meat toxic. I've had this told to me by several horse people including my wife and a horse vet but don't know how true it actually is.

jessaustin 11y ago
The dangers of drugs in horse meat are vastly exaggerated by those opposed to eating horse meat. The thing to remember is that drugs, especially those that might pose a problem, are expensive. As such, they might be in common use for e.g. valuable Thoroughbred stallions in Lexington KY but are vanishingly rare for swaybacked old "killer" horses fending for themselves on weeds and thornbushes on someone's back forty. Sure they might have been "worth" such drugs when they were younger, but that was years ago. Experience from cattle drugs indicates that everything is out of the system in 60 days.
michael_h 11y ago
Horses are raised for meat in the US, but they are exported.

PerfectElement 11y ago

Yes, there's absolutely no reason to believe pigs suffer less than dogs. In fact, they have similar cognitive levels. So we need to do some mental gymnastics to justify how we treat them. This behavior is labeled "moral schizophrenia" by some. We say that we recognize that animals are sentient and therefore deserve moral consideration and freedom from unnecessary suffering, but we often behave toward them as insentient things and treat them in ways that are diametrically opposed to any moral consideration of their interests. Unless we label them as pets, of course. Then they are automatically included in our circle of compassion. For a deeper look at the psychology behind this, I recommend this great TED talk: https://youtu.be/o0VrZPBskpg https://youtu.be/o0VrZPBskpg

whatshisface 11y ago
I think you make it sound more callous and arbitrary than it is. It's simple: we have an alliance with dogs and treat them as our friends. Had truffle pigs been as common as hunting dogs, we wouldn't eat as much bacon. Now that this alliance is vestigial, we may see it decay - perhaps you don't believe in it. Honestly, we probably feel more brotherhood with our work animals than we do with citizens of opposing countries. Makes sense, if someone came to rob your house the Soviets wouldn't bark. Then, there is the idea that dogs reciprocate. We know at least some do, and we know that nearly every dog owner will claim that theirs does, and we know that a sufficiently inbred poodle won't have the faculty for it. Ether way, we are all told that dogs our our buddies who want to help us. Who would eat a buddy that wanted to help you? How many bacon-eaters think that the pig would, if it could, keep them safe and help them find other things to eat? Probably none. (Note: I know that there are pig pets. Maybe they are friends, like dogs. If that's true, get the word out and porkchops stop tomorrow.)
- jschwartzi 11y ago
  This is certainly how I feel about dogs and horses. They're both useful animals. I think the fact that they both have exposed sclera helps cement the alliance.