Tuesday, July 12, 2011

General unhappiness over dog food menu in the Philippines

This menu is where half million dogs a year end up after being snatched off the streets and illegally killed in the Philippines. After being trussed, muzzled with rusty cans and slaughtered, they end up in restaurants which flout the law to satisfy the growing taste for dog meat. Customers dine on dog’s head, considered a delicacy, for the equivalent of £2.50.

A dish of dog liver costs about £1.80 while a particular favourite, deep fried paws, are just 85p. Bars serve dog meat snacks known as “pulutan” with drinks just as British pub-goers might enjoy a bag of crisps. The grisly trade flourishes in the north where there is a long tradition of eating dog meat despite warnings from the authorities about the dangers to health and the introduction of jail terms for dog meat traders.



Simon Powell, of British-based non-profit organisation Network For Animals, which is leading the campaign against the practice, took this photograph in a ­restaurant in Baguio City. He said: “These restaurants sell dog meat only and generally by lunchtime they are packed. Particularly popular is pulutan, a dog meat bar snack. Another very popular dish is deep fried dog paws, known as ‘spare parts’.

“I went into the kitchen and there on a stainless steel platter was a pile of dog meat and on top of it the boiled head of a dog. It was bizarre and surreal to see what we regard as man’s best friend and a pet regarded as legitimate food.” Network For Animals is lobbying the Philippines government to enforce its anti-dog meat legislation.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

feral dogs eat anything they can find and often have major health issues. They aren't raised as a food source and can't be very safe for human consumption. Moral issues aside it's still pretty nasty to be frying up a mangy street mutt.

Insolitus said...

That something seems bizarre for a British activist is not grounds for demanding it to be made illegal. The source and treatment of the dogs is another matter. As a carnivore myself, I have nothing agains hypothetical farms producing dog meat for human consumption.

Anonymous said...

On the other side of the menu, just drink a little of that Red Horse and you won't give a flip what you're eating. It's beer with a dash of formaldehyde. Knock you flat on your ass. I found that out the hard way in 1988 on my first pump to Disneyland for Adults, ("Me luv u long time Marine!")

Anonymous said...

Deep fried cat flanks $2.95
Roasted Cat with ears $5.50
Bangkok Child arms $17.30
Feelgood Fido $12.00

Me ?
6 foot well built guy with a good looking smart woman partner, my own home, Italian car, good income.....
...oh yeah, vegetarian since I was 17
...if you are going to murder an animal for food or sport, why limit yourself, kill sheep cattle goats horses dogs cats rabbits humans kangaroos moas pigs...anything that moves.
Try looking into its eyes while you murder it, not just buying it wrapped in plastic in the supermarket.

Insolitus said...

I personally only murder animals that I don't intend to eat - mosquitoes, flies and an occasional spider. I'm happy to leave all my vertebrate murdering for professionals. Except that one time in the lab animal course in the university, where I quite intentionally broke the neck of a cute little white mouse. Good times...

The Rat King said...

Awwww, a happy little militant vegan has stopped in, trying to act the big tough man on the internet.

Because everyone will believe someone on the internet who claims to have a beautiful wife, a Ferrari (probably,) a mansion, etc etc etc.

"Try looking into its eyes while you murder it, not just buying it wrapped in plastic in the supermarket."

I do. It's called 'hunting' and it is thoroughly enjoyable and exhilarating an experience to commune with nature in the way humans had for tens of thousands of years.

You've never watch the Nature channel, have you? You know, where it shows how animals actually die in the wild (i.e. being torn apart by predators while screaming.)

Insolitus said...

Italian car could mean just Fiat.

The Rat King said...

Nah, Internet braggers don't think Fiat; it has to be a Ferrari or Porsche or some other wildly expensive car to lie about so their e-penis feels big.

Insolitus said...

I meant that it's possible to mislead without saying a single untrue word. Obviously, someone saying they drive an Italian car most probably doesn't drive a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, they just want you to think they do. But if they have a Fiat in their garage, they can also claim they have been completely honest with you.