Countries Where People Still Eat Dogs for Dinner
China Chinese were among the first people to domesticate dogs and cats and keep them as pets. There are close to 130 million pet dogs in China— average one dog per 10 people. In spite of this eating and selling dog meat is a perfectly legal — thousands of year old tradition in China.
South Korea In South Korea there are over 20,000 restaurants—offering dog meat. Apart from these, dog meat eating festivals are routinely held and up to 15,000 dogs and cats are consumed every day. The dog meat industry is estimated to be worth US$2 billion.
Philippines Eating dog meat is not uncommon in the Philippines where half a million dogs get slaughtered annually. Dog meat is the third most popularly consumed meat after pork and goat. Asocena – a Filipino dish primarily consisting of dog meat. Aso is a Filipino word for dog and cena means dinner or evening meal.
Vietnam Fried cat meat and beer is a popular dish in Hanoi. The process starts with smashing the cat’s head with a hammer and drowning it before removing its fur. Similarly dogs are eaten in Vietnam which has a hundreds of years old tradition of worshipping stone statues of dogs because men want to be as strong and energetic as the dogs their ancestors used to worship.
Thailand The dog meat and dog skin is a flourishing trade in Thailand. The town of Ta Rae in Thailand along the Mekong River is the hub for illicit dog stealing, smuggling, and trafficking. Dog thieves use makeshift stun guns connected to motorcycle batteries, to knock out pet dogs. The unconscious animal is then tied on the back of their motorbike and sold to traders for less than HK$100 each and land up in the hands of smugglers.
Laos Laos is a dog trafficking hub between Thailand and Vietnam. It is among the 25th hungriest nation in the world out of the list of the 56 nations with the worst hunger situation. Almost every night thousands of stolen and stray dogs are caught and smuggled across the Mekong River from Thailand to Laos en route to Vietnam.
Taiwan Dog meat is called “fragrant meat” in Taiwan. Dogs, especially black dogs are eaten in the winter months to retain body warmth. The Taiwanese parliament passed a law banning people from eating dog meat and imposed a fine of $300 for anyone found violating the law. The ban was introduced in 1988 to avoid adverse publicity during the Seoul Olympics. In spite of this dog meat is part of the menu in over 100 restaurants throughout Taiwan where the ban has not been effectively enforced.
Indonesia A majority of the predominantly Muslim population of Indonesia consider eating dog or pork meat as unclean and haraam (forbidden by religion) but this does not prevent the Minahasa an ethnic Christian majority tribal community in Indonesia from traditionally eating dogs, cats, forest rats, and fruit bats.
Polynesia Dog meat is part of Polynesian and Hawaiian history. In the past meat of the Hawaiian poi dog was considered a delicacy reserved for consumption during feasts and religious festivals. It was only served to men and considered ‘kapu’ or forbidden for women. Traditionally dogs were supposed to be eaten only by the royalty and considered to be a food for the god’s.
Canada Dog meat is legally sold at restaurants in Canada. It is not illegal to consume dog and cat meat in Canada. The slaughter of food animals is a licensed activity in Canada, which means operators must obtain a license. For a meat plant operator to get a license for dog meat, it must be proven that the dogs fit within the definition of food animals.