The Chinese Eat Dogs

[00:00:00]Chinese eat dogs. I'm sure you've heard it by this point. It is a known stereotype. People with monolid eyes whose language sounds like ching chong chong.

[00:00:11]Eat dogs and cats.

[00:00:12]>> [music] >> How can they? Don't they consider them cute or funny? Doesn't it happen to you that dogs are so cute that you want to hug them until they explode? Or that you want to eat them? Well, for many cultures around the world, that last part is apparently literal. Not only that, it is also said that they pretty much eat anything moving within a 10-ft radius of them. In this video, I will explore the stereotype, [music] which cultures do this, and what the law and pet owners think about it. Before moving on, I don't think it is necessary to remind you that in this video, I will be exposing animal abuse. Viewer discretion is advised.

[00:00:45]It is true that China has history with eating dogs. I will start by mentioning the Yulin Festival. This is a solstice celebration festival in which rural people gather to eat thousands of dogs.

[00:00:54]Starting from the '90s decade, most of China disagrees with this. Keep in mind, people in China do keep pets, and no, not for consumption once they die. They are simply normal humans, and most of them recognize dogs as a companion, not a natural human prey. Still, the Yulin Festival is still celebrated to this day, isn't prohibited, and eating dogs in China is still legal. Politicians have tried to abolish this, not out of the goodness of their hearts, but mostly because it is not exactly a good reputation for China. Eating dogs was indeed a common practice across much of China for centuries, going back to ancient times and continuing through many dynasties, including the Han. It wasn't until later, especially with the influence of Buddhism, Taoism, and changing attitudes, that it gradually fell out of favor. Dogs became more valued as companions and guardians. But of course, a really small part of the population whose favorite meal was the hot dog, and I mean that literally, decided to keep eating it secretly.

[00:01:46]That's how there's people even today trading and eating dogs despite being frowned upon by the majority, like it was socially illegal. You never get to fully erase these kinds of things out of a society. What about the cats?

[00:01:58]Well, that's an exaggeration of the eating dogs meme that used to include cats in the menu. But outside the meme, reality is that in China, there have been some minorities who have eaten cats, but it isn't something common nor supported by Chinese. And it usually has more to do with famine cases than the flavored kitten taste. Same goes to the pangolin and the bat soup thing. You probably heard that caused the COVID.

[00:02:18]These animals are clandestine and in the case of pangolin is illegal. The pangolin is a threatened animal. It is not to be consumed. There are just a bunch of weirdos doing it illegally, which is not something exclusive to Chinese nor Asians. Thus, after the lockdown, China has become really serious about eating random wild animals. What Chinese do eat that you find really weird are bugs, a lot of bugs, caterpillars, worms, scorpions. I know it looks nasty, but this once again is not exclusive to Chinese nor Asians.

[00:02:45]These kinds of exotic delicacies are eaten on the planet, mostly in rural areas. And yes, that includes the USA and Europe. It is true, it is more common in China than in those places because in Western societies it is taboo, which does not prohibit it.

[00:02:58]Actually, bugs are a great source of protein and many vitamins that I don't want to try out myself, but it is still true. So, I'm not going to mention bugs again in the next locations, because yes, they eat bugs as in most countries on Earth. Just don't feel too special because you don't eat bugs. After all, if you are American, you probably eat fried Snickers. Seriously, whoever invented this should be declared a gastronomy terrorist. China was the most stereotyped place on Earth about this topic, but what do you know about Korean consumption of dogs?

[00:03:27]Korea also shares the dynasty's history with dog breakfasts. But the thing here is that it wasn't legally prohibited until recently. So, that settles it down, right? Koreans eat dogs, period.

[00:03:37]No, the truth is, it has always been looked down by more than half of the population. They have a really similar situation to Spain's bull fighting.

[00:03:44]Something that is bad, everyone knows it is bad, most people want it to be illegal and pursued, but there is always this minority who considers it an ancient practice that must be protected.

[00:03:54]And in the case of Korea, they have finally prohibited it. I'm not sure what Spaniards are waiting for. Yes, eating dogs in South Korea used to be legal.

[00:04:01]That's true. But it was mostly a practice from a minority of rural places. They used to breed them as any animal for consumption. They even had a specific dog breed for this, the Nureongi. Honestly, it is so cute that I can't believe these dudes actually eat these. Couldn't they eat, I don't know, pugs instead? Those are suffering by just existing anyways. And yes, that is true. This minority isn't that minor.

[00:04:22]The law that prohibits eating dogs was approved just in 2024, and they left a grace period of 3 years to abandon the practice. So, it is technically still legal right now. But most importantly, once it is approved, the dog eaters will never fully disappear. It is probably just going to continue secretly. Korea has a weird history with animal abuse.

[00:04:40]The cases of abandoned companion pets and physical abuse of both dogs [music] and cats seems to be rising. Plus, they used to breed bears to extract their bile for traditional pseudo-medicines that only work when you really want to believe in them. Luckily, this practice was also prohibited recently. Plus, Korea also does the wild and domestic animals cafes, which as many of you know by this point are cute places where you get to drink and eat some nice food while you have animals roaming around.

[00:05:03][music] The thing is that these animals are usually not treated really well by the owners. And in the case of exotic animals, they are mostly obtained by contraband. At least [music] this last group has already been prohibited by law recently. It is like the country is awakening towards the animal topic.

[00:05:18]These cafes also exist in Japan. The case is pretty much the same thing, for which I'm not making a chapter out of Japan's case. They used to eat dogs and rarely cats, but very rarely. It is really looked down upon nowadays, and the minority eating them is really tiny.

[00:05:31]Though it is technically legal to eat dogs in Japan, it is not legal to kill them. So, if you manage to get them from another [music] territory, you can technically eat them. What I have to mention before moving on is the practice of sannakji, eating alive octopuses, >> [music] >> either intact or just mutilated.

[00:05:46]Octopuses are one, if not the single most intelligent animal on the planet.

[00:05:50]More than that, they have brain cells not only on their brain, but spread across all of their entire bodies.

[00:05:55][music] And many studies have proven not only their intelligence, but an ability to feel pain, or at least some sort of suffering. In my opinion, we shouldn't be making studies just to assume other animals can feel pain. So, we should start calling sannakji as it is, an aberration, period. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking you to go vegan whatsoever. I'm asking to please kill the animals before cooking them. There is absolutely no need to season it with the animal's suffering. Plus, this dish is dangerous. Even if you slice the animal before trying to swallow it.

[00:06:23]Remember the brain cells thing I said?

[00:06:25]It will might stick to your throat trying to escape.

[00:06:29]So, if China, Korea, and Japan aren't really eating dogs, or at least not that many dogs, then why have we heard that Asian stereotype? Because Westerners tend to call Chinese whoever has a face similar to this one. Cambodia and Laos have better issues to worry about that they don't even have laws authorizing nor prohibiting eating dogs and cats.

[00:06:47]Plus, they are both countries that have been economically destroyed. They have an absurd and corrupt wealth gap, and many people living under extreme poverty conditions. When your situation is so bad that you have to live in literal canoes, it is normal that you might want to eat whatever you can get your hands on. Eating dogs might not be illegal, but kidnapping them to turn them into tacos sure is. So, the whole thing has created a clandestine reality in which many people under poverty conditions are trafficking with them. In Vietnam, not only is it legal to eat dogs, but cats are eaten as well. This isn't because they're savages whatsoever. Remember last century, Vietnam was involved in more wars than they would have wished.

[00:07:21]Many years of conflict left a starving population with less access to meat from farm animals. They had to start eating whatever they had near. That's when the dog eating mania started. To make it darker or funnier, depending on how you see it, eating cats was made illegal back in 1998. And it wasn't because they had a spiritual awakening towards the animal. No, it was because they were worrying that rats may grow in population if people keep eating cats.

[00:07:42]Normally, prohibiting companion animals for consumption is considered part of the progress of a society. Well, how do I tell you that the law prohibiting consuming cats was simply removed in 2020? So, you can still find cat meat to this day. And how can we forget about North Korea? They literally have to eat even dirt if necessary to survive given their circumstances. We know little about their life conditions, yet we have a lot of evidence of how common it is to eat dogs there. It gets to the point that if you take the guided tour to North Korea, you're most likely going to be fed with dog soup. Out of Asia, we find that at least 20 African countries report eating dogs as a normal practice.

[00:08:16]And those are just the ones that are officially reporting it and not hiding it. This practice has also been historically found in Mexico. Before colonization, Aztecs loved dog meat. If you have paid attention, first of all, what are you waiting to leave a like, subscribe, and most importantly, share the video with your friends so you can enjoy more videos like this one. And second, it is possible you have noticed that the cat thing is mostly exaggerated because it kind of sounds good for the title.

[00:08:42]I have personally heard the stereotype including cats. Reality is that cat meat consumption is more associated with extreme starvation, but it does not apply for dogs. Those ones have to suffer the consequences of external situations that aren't the fault of people having to eat them, either. Why does it happen? I don't know, dude. Just because I'm drawn with Chong Chong eyes doesn't mean I have tasted both to confirm if one of them tastes better.

[00:09:03]Also, people in those countries where eating dogs is more common also have dogs. So, if you were asking if they simply hate dogs, the truth is many own dogs and totally disagree with dog eating. Some don't care about dogs and eat them, and some do care about dogs, love them, and also eat them. I know it is kind of crazy, but that's the world we've been born into. Also, if we talk really seriously about it, it's pretty much the same to breed pigs for food than breeding dogs for food. Yes, I know that sounds like an aberration, but pigs aren't really that different from dogs, neither physically nor mentally. I'm not saying this so you start eating grass with lettuce. I'm not asking anyone to change their diet, but it is an objective reality. Look at it this way, no Asian dog eaters family, regardless of their size, kills more dogs a year than PETA does. The difference is one is doing it for food and the other because of an obsession with some evil cartoon villain monologue that they will set them free or some weird [ __ ] Remember to leave a like. I'm going to have some dinner right now.

[00:10:00]No, you idiot. I'm not going to dine dog.

[00:10:03]Just a bit of delicious grilled cat.