South Korean Political Parties Unanimously Support Dog Meat Ban
Almost every society in the world has a history of eating animals. Some cultures revere certain animals, whilst others do not. Nevertheless, Westerners have often assumed a position of cultural and moral superiority. Dogs are special in their culture, not in most sub-Saharan, Middle Eastern, South, and East Asian cultures. However, Westerners are trying to impose their culture on the world, preaching to everyone how their choice of special animal should be special to everyone else.
In India, the Hindus revere cows, but they do not go around the world telling other cultures to do the same. Every animal is there for human consumption as long as they are ethically farmed. Certain tribes within the various Nigerian ethnicities do eat dog meat; they have done so for centuries. It is part of their culture and cuisine. Who has the right to judge them or tell them not to eat dog meat? The guy who kills billions of chickens, goats, pigs, and cows yearly in the US, EU, Canada, and the UK?
South Korea, a country that has copied almost everything American and reveres the US sycophantically, is now looking to ban dog meat—a tradition spanning more than a millennium. As Korea gets richer with an increasingly Western-leaning population, pleasing or aligning with Western culture is becoming inevitable. Nothing unites Korean political factions like the ban on dog meat. However, the reason put forward casts more hypocrisy than clarity. They claim the ban should go ahead because of what they call “cruelty and unsanitary conditions.” However, other livestock farms do precisely the same, so why not ban all animal meat consumption and let Korea become the first vegan country?
If Korea’s argument were for veganism, it would have made sense. In our globe, some eat lamb, others ram, some even slaughter whales, whilst others eat chicken, and yes, dog meat, too. All animals are sentient; none should pick and choose or treat them differently. Either ban all or none. No animal is superior to another, and no human should dictate to another what animal breed they should eat. The fight should instead be one of stopping animal cruelty, not playing the animal police.
By Ikechukwu ORJI
