The proliferation of restaurants that serve dog meat in Vietnam has created a lucrative moneymaking opportunity for thieves. "Dognappers" cruise neighborhoods on motorcycles, grabbing dogs in broad daylight and stuffing them into cages. If the owners give chase, it is not uncommon for the thieves to hurl bricks or shoot arrows at them, sometimes injuring or even killing them. Yet many of the same people who despise dog thieves still order dog meat in restaurants.

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Before we point the finger and call such people hypocrites, think of people in the Western world who have "pet" hens and pot-bellied pigs yet still eat fried chicken and ham sandwiches. They balk at eating animals they "know" but have no problem eating an animal they never met who invariably endured a miserable life on a filthy factory farm and ended up in a very scary place: the slaughterhouse.

To stop the cycle of violence against animals from Vietnam to Virginia and everywhere in between—animals we won't "get to know"—we must recognize them as individuals we can help by saying "No" to flesh foods.

 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Thank you, China! In a move that breaks with a tradition reportedly going back 600 years—when dogs barked, giving away the army's position—officials have canceled an annual Chinese festival in which 5,000 to 10,000 dogs are killed and eaten on the streets of Jinhua City. The cancellation follows protests by thousands of animal rights advocates. This is a wonderful move by the Chinese government, and we hope to see many more compassionate decisions like this in the years ahead.

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One protester described what he had seen at previous festivals: "I've seen the dogs being stabbed, strangled and even beaten into comas and thrown into boiling water. Some dogs woke up in the extremely hot water and they struggled, but the vendors kept pushing them, plucking their fur."

If this sounds horrifying, bear in mind that animals by the billions meet similar fates in American slaughterhouses every year. Improperly stunned cows, turkeys, pigs, and chickens have their throats cut while they are still conscious. The beating and intentional abuse of animals by farm workers is rampant. And pigs, chickens, and turkeys are often still alive when they are dunked into tanks of scalding-hot water to remove their hair and feathers.

Order your free vegetarian/vegan starter kit today and protect all animals from painful slaughter.

 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

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The Beijing City Government Food Safety Office has reportedly stated that dog meat is off the menu during the Olympics. The world's best athletes are now free from worrying that the meat on their plate may be from someone's stray or confiscated Fido. All 112 official Olympic restaurants are forbidden from serving any dishes containing any part of a dog during the summer games, which start on August 8. So, swimmers and sprinters, don't worry if you see a finger-like object floating in your stew—it's probably just a finger ....

Let's face it, China may be on top of its game in terms of technological innovations, but when it comes to animal protection, the country is dead last at the bottom of the dog pile.

China severely lacks any form of animal welfare. Our investigations into Chinese fur farms and live markets have shown some of the most horrendous acts of cruelty and conditions for animals raised for human use.

We're pleased that Beijing has opted out of the dog-slaughtering business—at least for a few weeks and if only for Olympic restaurants. But I have a suspicion it's not because someone up top realized that dogs feel pain.

A better idea would be to ban all meat from the restaurants. Cows, chickens, pigs, and fish value their lives and don't want to suffer, and they certainly die as wretchedly as dogs do, even if most people never get to know one in the way that they get to know a dog. Kind of a double standard, don't you think?

Besides, the Olympic athletes certainly don't need all the fat and cholesterol loaded in each bite of meat. It would suck to be one lap away from winning gold and suffer a heart attack. Take a bit of advice from Carl Lewis, a legendary Olympian, a vegetarian, and the man who's broken more records than humanly possible.

The only real breakfast of champions is one that's meat-free. And you can take that to the winner's podium.

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky