Dog meat

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dog meat is used as food in some countries, such as Korea , Vietnam and some regions of China such as Guangdong , Guizhou and Jilin . However, a food taboo has developed in many cultures that prohibits consumption.

History and Distribution of Consumption

Dogs on a grill in Hanoi
Dogs on meat hooks in China

Recent research has shown that dogs were consumed in Northern Europe as early as the Middle Stone Age . In the Neolithic in particular , dogs were slaughtered for food in many places, but they were also often used as offerings . The development of using dogs as offerings may have intensified in the following Bronze Age , as individual archaeological findings suggest. For the following centuries up to the Roman Empire it could also be proven that dogs not only played a role in cult, but were also used profanely as a meat resource. For the year 1277, written sources document the consumption of dog meat in Tyrol , Carinthia and Styria, and around 869 consumption is expressly recorded in the annals of the Rhine region as well as in Burgundy and Gaul . Two centuries later, pushing dog meat was again punished as a serious offense. Such frauds often cost the butcher his life. The only exceptions were times of need, because when cities were besieged by war , as in the Thirty Years' War , people had to resort to dog meat due to a lack of food.

For the first quarter of the 19th century, dog slaughterers are attested in several villages in Saxony and the consumption of meat seems to have been common in many places. Only a few years later, dog meat was valued in Germany on festive occasions and Wilhelm Busch described the slaughter of a dog in the Munich picture sheet around 1866. At that time, the meat was considered a special delicacy in some sections of the population. During the siege of Paris in 1870/71, menus offered a selection of several dog meat dishes: for example, there was sliced ​​dog liver, dog shoulder fillet in tomato sauce and dog legs garnished with young rats. In the 20th century, for example, between 1904 and 1924 in the cities of Chemnitz , Breslau and Munich a total of around 42,400 dogs were slaughtered for consumption. In the decade before the First World War, around 84 t of dog meat was slaughtered annually in the German Reich; between 1920 and 1924, the official figure was around 115 t. The number of unreported cases was considerably higher. During this time, the slaughter of dogs in Germany was subject to statutory meat inspection. A change that went hand in hand with the prohibition of dog slaughter for meat production was not made to the law until 1986. Even emergency situations of individuals or groups in extreme situations (e.g. polar expeditions, poverty) led to the use of dogs as food.

This behavior has also found its way into literature as a symbol of great despair: In one scene in Hauptmann's drama “ Die Weber ”, an old man slaughters his dog. However, even in areas where the majority of the population did not eat dog meat, there were regions where dogs were regularly eaten. Examples of this are the Appenzeller and Graubünden regions in Switzerland or some cities in Saxony . According to official information, an average of 226 dogs were slaughtered in Chemnitz , 136 in Dresden and 58 in Zwickau in the years around 1900 .

Roald Amundsen used his sled dogs on the South Pole expedition (1910–1912) not only as draft animals. If the dogs were no longer needed, they were slaughtered. The meat served as provisions and was supposed to prevent scurvy .

Written evidence that the preparation of dog meat is a culinary tradition include a. known from China. Dog meat was recommended by the philosopher Mengzi as early as the 4th century BC . More detailed information on the “effect” can then be found, for example, in an encyclopedia from the 16th century. However, the assessment varied from province to province: The Manchu in the north despised the people in the south for it. Sun Yat-sen , the revolutionary against the Manchurian dynasty , began his political meetings with a dog meal to show his attitude towards the northern rulers.

Information on the current distribution and popularity of dishes with dog meat fluctuates and is controversial. Animal welfare associations tend to report very high numbers of dogs killed: According to AnimalsAsia , there are up to 20 million dogs annually in China alone and 10 million dogs and cats according to Four Paws in Vietnam , Cambodia and Indonesia . At the same time, they try to portray the group of human consumers as very small and partially attribute consumption outside of Korea and China solely to the presence of overseas Chinese . According to a market analysis updated in February 2020, over 3 million dogs are killed in Cambodia, over 1 million dogs in Indonesia and over 5 million dogs in Vietnam each year for trade. Defenders of the custom, however, point out that eating dog meat is also widespread in Africa and Europe.

Dogs are regularly eaten in Korea, China, and Vietnam ; and this fact is perceived as normal by at least part of the population. However, dog meat is a specialty in all three countries and is expensive. Targeted breeding and "dog farms" have only recently existed.

Furthermore, the consumption of dog meat is said to occur in Laos , Myanmar , Malaysia as well as in Ghana and the Congo . The fact that some Igorot peoples in the Philippines keep dogs for consumption was spread by daily newspapers in the United States in connection with the 1904 Saint Louis World's Fair . In Thailand , dog meat is considered a delicacy in some regions, especially Sakon Nakhon ( Isan ), although most Thais refuse to slaughter dogs. In East Timor , dog meat is considered a delicacy. However, this custom is said to have only become established in the 1980s, coming from northern Sulawesi ( Indonesia ), where dog meat is traditionally eaten by the Minahasa people , when the first dog meat restaurant opened in the state capital Dili . Every year in southwest Nigeria there is a big festival at which hundreds of dogs are beheaded. Their blood is sprinkled on a statue of a god, then the meat is grilled and eaten. In Cambodia , the largest dog meat supplier in the region was closed in October 2019.

Traditionally, dogs were also used as food by the Polynesians . In Hawaii there was a dog breed specifically bred for fattening, the Hawaiian Poi Dog .

In May 2020, China published a national livestock catalog that explicitly excludes dogs. This bans the sale of live dogs and dog meat for consumption in China.

Properties and preparation

Indonesians preparing a dog (around 1970)
Dog meat dish, Guilin , China garnished with a dog's tail.

Dog meat is pink in color. In terms of taste, it is somewhere between beef and venison . The combination with sesame is popular . There are many ways of preparation: it can be boiled, fried, grilled or deep-fried; In Vietnam, sausages are also made from dog entrails. In the context of traditional Chinese dietetics (which, comparable to the ancient understanding of diet - food , ascribes certain quasi-medical effects in each case) dog meat is considered to be "warming". In China and Vietnam it is therefore mostly eaten in winter and prepared, for example, as a spicy fondue (hot pot ). In Korea, on the other hand, the most famous dog dish , poshintang stew , is considered a summer dish and useful against the heat.

Cultural and religious differences, controversies

The extreme differences in the valuation of dog meat can be compared to the US controversy over the export of horse meat . In contrast to the taboos around pigs (which, for example, Jews and Muslims are not allowed to eat), guinea pigs (which in Ecuador and Peru are sometimes specially bred for consumption , but not eaten in Europe) and cattle (which are slaughtered in some states India is forbidden, see Holy Cow ), the fact that dogs and horses are animals with which their owners often have a close, emotional relationship leads to the fact that foreign eating habits are actively criticized. Reports on transport and breeding conditions , which are viewed as cruelty to animals , also play an important role . In addition, there are always particularly cruel slaughters in which the dogs are beaten before they are killed; the adrenaline produced makes the meat tougher, which is said to have a potency-increasing effect. The frequency of this practice is controversial: defense lawyers point out that most dogs slaughtered for consumption are not tortured and their living conditions are no worse than those of other slaughtered animals.

Critics also argue that dogs are an exception as meat suppliers: The meat of land-based predators, in this case of predators, is almost never used as food. Wolves are also usually not eaten. Dog meat is also not economical because dogs, like all predators, need very high quality food. It should also be noted that predators are high up in the food chain , i.e. pollutants in meat accumulate very easily.

Major international public discussions took place in the run-up to the Summer Olympics in Seoul and the 2002 World Cup . The South Korean government issued by relevant requirements of the IOC before the 1988 Olympic Games a legal ban on food, "deemed unsightly" can. Since dog meat consumption tended to increase up to 2001 despite technical illegality, there were initiatives before the World Cup that demanded a more consistent approach. Brigitte Bardot was a prominent but also polarizing advocate . In some interviews she spoke a. of a "barbaric bad habit", which earned her the charge of racism and snobbery . Even FIFA -President Sepp Blatter supported a ban on slaughter of dogs. The reactions on the Korean side were less lenient this time, however: efforts to legalize it, arguing that this was the best way to combat cruel slaughtering methods, were stepped up, and some nationalists were outraged at the West's arrogance. The controversy between advocates of legalization and groups seeking an outright ban is still ongoing in South Korea.

The consumption of dog meat is not permitted under Islamic and Jewish dietary laws .

Legal

The ban on obtaining and offering dog meat arises

  • for Germany since May 2010 from Section 22 Paragraph 1a of the Animal Food Hygiene Ordinance (Tier-LMHV). Experts consider at least the punishment of this ban to be questionable for constitutional reasons. In addition, there is an import ban according to Section 13a of the Food Import Regulation (LMEV).
  • for Austria from Section 6 (2) of the Animal Welfare Act (TSchG) of 2004.
  • for Switzerland of Art. 2 of the Ordinance of the EDI over food of animal origin on 23 November 2005. The ban, however, only applies to commercial traffic; Extraction and consumption for personal use are permitted as long as there is no violation of animal welfare legislation.

literature

  • Erhard Oeser: Dog and man: the story of a relationship . Darmstadt 2004, ISBN 3-89678-496-X ; Chapter 7: The Dog as Medicine and Food , pp. 143–151.
  • Marvin Harris : Taste and aversion: the riddle of food taboos (translation of "good to eat"). Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-608-93123-6 .
  • J. Ewersen: The dog - loved, used and eaten . In: Brita Ramminger, Heike Lach (ed.): Dogs - People - Artifacts. Commemorative publication for Gretel Galley (= International Archeology, Studia honoraria , Volume 32), Rahden / Westf. 2012, ISBN 978-3-89646-551-1 , pp. 249-262.
  • J. Ewersen, keeping dogs on the Wurt Feddersen Wierde from the Imperial era - an attempt at reconstruction. Settlement and coastal research in the southern North Sea area 33 (2010) 53 - 75.

Web links

Commons : Dog Meat  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Dog meat  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ J. Ewersen: The dog - loved, used and eaten. B. Ramminger, H. Lasch: Dogs - People - Artifacts. Commemorative script for Gretel Galley. Studia honoraria vol. 32 (Rahden / Westf. 2012) 249 -262.
  2. ↑ J. Ewersen, keeping dogs on the Wurt Feddersen Wierde from the imperial era - an attempt at reconstruction. Settlement and coastal research in the southern North Sea area 33 (2010) 53 - 75.
  3. ↑ a b Erhard Oeser: Dog and man: the history of a relationship . Darmstadt 2004, ISBN 3-89678-496-X ; Chapter 7: The Dog as Medicine and Food , pp. 143–151
  4. ↑ Uwe Spiekermann: The other digestion. Encounters of food cultures . In: Uwe Spiekermann, Gesa U. Schönberger (Ed.): Diet in borderline situations . Springer, Berlin et al. 2002, p. 89–105, here 93 .
  5. ↑ R. Amundsen , P. Klaiber [trans.]: The conquest of the South Pole . Munich 1912
  6. ^ Roald Amundsen: The South Pole. An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the "Fram", 1910-1912. Translated from the Norwegian by AG Chater. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, London 2001, ISBN 1-85065-469-7 ( digitized facsimile ), pp. 57-62
  7. ↑ a b animalsasia.org
  8. ↑ Ten million dogs and cats are slaughtered in Southeast Asia every year . ots.at, February 11, 2020
  9. ↑ animalpeoplenews.org ( Memento of the original from February 20, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.animalpeoplenews.org
  10. ↑ The Dog and Cat Meat Trade in Southeast Asia: A Threat to Animals and People Harvard Kennedy School , February 2020 ( PDF; page 4 )
  11. ↑ news.bbc.co.uk
  12. ^ A b c John Feffer: The Politics of Dog . In: The American Prospect , March 6, 2002
  13. ↑ Samantha Heinrich: The 'Savage' Filipino Natives and Their Dog-Eating Habits. In: Western Illinois Historical Review, Volume 8, Spring 2017, pp. 25-41
  14. ^ East Timor Phrasebook, 1st edition, ISBN 1-74059-020-1
  15. ↑ Olaleye Akintola: New Home - The Revenge of the Dogs , In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of September 30, 2016, p. R6.
  16. ↑ Cambodia Four Paws Closed Large Dog Slaughterhouse , November 5, 2019 in Kleinezeitung.at .
  17. ↑ China prohibits the sale of dog and cat meat , May 30, 2020 in Ots.at
  18. ↑ for example american.edu ( Memento of April 13, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  19. ↑ Acidification from adrenaline
  20. ↑ wolf.ok.ac.kr ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / wolf.ok.ac.kr
  21. ↑ Bianca Knoche et Alfred Hendricks [eds.], Got to the dog? Natural and cultural history of the dog, Münster 2001 ( ISBN 3-924590-75-3 ), p. 78
  22. ^ Jared Diamond: Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies . WW Norton & Company, 1999, ISBN 0-393-06922-2 , page 169
  23. ↑ see on the entire complex: William Saletan: Wok the Dog . In: Slate , January 16, 2002.
  24. ↑ André Kunz: A bite for dog lovers . In: taz , January 17, 2002
  25. ↑ wolf.ok.ac.kr ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / wolf.ok.ac.kr
  26. ↑ "It is forbidden to obtain meat from dogs, cats, other dog-like and cat-like animals (canids and felids) as well as from monkeys for the purpose of human consumption or to bring it into circulation", inserted by the first regulation amending regulations for Implementation of the Community food hygiene law of May 11, 2010 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 612 ); see Section 1, Paragraph 1, Clause 4 of the Meat Hygiene Act in the version of 2004 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 934 ). In principle, the regulation goes back to the law amending the Meat Inspection Act of April 13, 1986 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 398 ): "Meat from monkeys, dogs and cats may not be obtained for human consumption"; Materials: BT-Drs. 10/4410 (PDF; 517 kB). A more far-reaching initiative by Hesse in the Federal Council had previously failed, see BR-Drs. 183/85 (PDF; 91 kB).
  27. ↑ Bode / Seiterle: Affenpinscher in Aspik Part I, ZiS-Online 2016, p. 91 ff. (PDF) Retrieved on March 23, 2016 .
  28. ↑ see previously § 15 of the Meat Hygiene Act in the version of 1991 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 118 ). This regulation probably goes back to the ordinance concerning the import of meat from bears, cats, foxes, badgers and other carnivorous animals that can be carriers of trichinae of August 10, 1933 (RGBl. I p. 579), later § 12 of the meat inspection law (FlBG), see RGBl. 1940 I p. 1465 .
  29. ↑ Federal Law Gazette No. 118/2004 : "It is forbidden to kill dogs or cats to obtain food or other products"; Materials: 446 BlgNr XXII. GP . See previously Art. 3 Para. 2 lit. t the agreement of the federal states according to Art. 15a B-VG to improve animal welfare in general and in particular in the non-agricultural area ( memento of July 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ).
  30. ↑ AS 2005 6043 (PDF; 623 kB) = SR 817.022.108 ; contains a list of the animal species permitted for commercial food production . Also previously Article 121 of the Food Ordinance (LMV) of March 1, 1995. - See also the judgment of the Swiss Federal Court of September 24, 1913, BGE 39 I 407 (appeal in cassation against a judgment of the Bucheggberg-Kriegstetten district court ; PDF; 422 kB) , whereby Art. 24 of the Federal Council Ordinance on the slaughter, the meat show and the trade in meat and meat products of 29 January 1909 was confirmed: "The trade in dog and cat meat and with goods made from it is prohibited".
  31. ↑ Art. 2 Para. 4 lit. a Food Act: " The law does not apply: to food and everyday objects that are intended for personal use."
  32. ↑ Markus Rohner: Not only the Asians love dog meat . In: Basler Zeitung , February 23, 2002.