Looks like “Animal Rights” won.
Dog meat off Olympic menu in Beijing
BEIJING, China (AP) – Canine cuisine is being sent to the doghouse during next month’s Beijing Olympic Games.
Dog meat has been struck from the menus of officially designated Olympic restaurants, and Beijing tourism officials are telling other outlets to discourage consumers from ordering dishes made from dogs, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.
Waiters and waitresses should “patiently” suggest other options to diners who order dog, it said, quoting city tourism bureau Vice Director Xiong Yumei.
Dog, known in Chinese as “xiangrou,” or “fragrant meat,” is eaten by some Chinese for its purported health-giving qualities.
Beijing isn’t the first Olympic host to slap a ban on the dish.
South Korea banned dog meat during the 1988 Seoul Olympics by invoking a law prohibiting the sale of “foods deemed unsightly.” After the Olympics, the ban was not strictly enforced.
Dog meat is also eaten in some other Asian countries, including Vietnam, the Philippines and Laos.
It is somewhat of a moot point since Chinese don’t eat dog meat in the summer time. (It’s a winter time delicacy – the ‘warming of the body’ is probably one of the “health-giving qualities” referred to in the article.) Maybe that’s why there doesn’t seem to be much ‘push back’ on this from official Chinese channels.
It does seem like a shame though. A 5,000 year old culture is having a traditional dish taken off the menu because outsiders don’t ‘approve’. What’s so different about “xianrou” compared to any other kind of meat? Is ‘cruelty’ defined by how ‘cute’ the animal is?
Although I’m not a fan of dog meat (yes, I’ve tried it. woof!) I find myself bothered that this traditional piece of Chinese cultural cuisine is being taken away because ‘outsiders’ don’t approve.
Go get your own Olympics an serve nothing but tofu…
What do you guys think?
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Hi! I'm Steve Webel and this is my blog. Thanks for stopping by!
I wouldn’t say that “animal rights” won. If that were the case, the fare being served wouldn’t consist of any dead animals.
It’s what you call a “little victory”, it might not be EVERYTHING they wanted, but if they could get anything ‘off the menu’ a cute little doggie is a nice little victory.
After all, if they had convinced them to take snails off the menu it would not have made a single headline.
Actually, dog meat is one of the things I wanted to try while in China, but didn’t get to (to my knowledge, anyway). I did try shark fin soup (like rubber) and ox tail soup (nasty little tail in the bottom of the bowl), but my favorite by far was the pigeon that came on my plate, complete with its little beaked head, feet, etc. Absolutely delicious!
They would not have served it to you secretly, unless a colleague was paying for it, it is very expensive meat.
I know friends who will eat it one time a year. (winter time) It’s like they have to check it off of their list of things to accomplish in the year.