Two articles on dog eating in North America:
 
1. DOGMEAT RESTAURANTS DISCOVERED IN CALIFORNIA!
by Rudy Allen
Some Korean restaurants in Orange County and Los Angeles are advertising DOG STEW openly, although it is illegal to serve dogmeat in the state of California.  Yet law enforcement agencies are not enforcing the existing law.
Part of the problem is that "Boshintang" (dog stew) is advertised only in the Korean language. A Korean employee involved in a Channel 9 expose originally translated this for me; the translation has been verified by two other Korean animal sympathizers. Nevertheless, authorities either dismiss it, or refuse to look into the matter, passing it on to yet another agency that refuses to do anything about it.  Orange County Health official Mr. Saba supposedly inspected one restaurant and reported finding nothing to indicate that dog was being served. When questioned as to exactly what he was looking for, he replied, "a carcass." It had to be pointed out to this government employed health official that McDonalds (for instance) does not have cow carcasses in their kitchens! He retorted that he "checked the meat receipts."
Once again, ludicrous! Since serving, or providing dogmeat for the intention of consumption, is illegal in California, who is going to give a receipt?
Finally, Saba maintained that his Korean investigator substantiated that the sign in front of the restaurant does NOT say "dogstew." When it was suggested that he might ask two different Koreans (at different times) to translate, he said he'd have to get back to me. He never did.
THE LAW
Penal Code 598b clearly states "Every person is guilty of a misdemeanor who possesses, imports into, or exports from, this state, sells, buys, gives away, or accepts any carcass or part of any carcass of any animal traditionally or commonly kept as a pet or companion animal with the intent of using or having another person use any part of that carcass for food." The law goes on to state that
it is not to be construed to apply to livestock or poultry. Nevertheless, L.A. S.P.C.A. officer David Havard confesses: "We've had animals picked up by individuals in the past years that use these animals for food consumption."
Obviously if an officer for the Society for the Prevention of CRUELTY to Animals  KNOWINGLY condones the adopting of animals to these individuals, any chance of help from this group is hopeless! Worse yet, how many people who give up a pet to the shelters have any idea that their animal may wind up as stew?  "The biggest problem we have in enforcing the law," Havard continues, "is determining the definition of companion animal."   If the SPCA doesn't know that dogs and cats are companion animals, who would?   The police contend that they do not have the time to investigate animal abuse prevention cases, and pass the hat to Animal Regulation. The fact that Orange County
Animal Regulation's answering machine offers Vietnamese callers a separate line to dial is disturbing as well, since it indicates that they service a sizeable Vietnamese clientele. Dogmeat Stew (Thit Cho) happens to be a very popular delicacy in Vietnam! Coincidentally,  in 1996, head of L.A. Animal Regulation, Gary Olson, admitted that an astonishing 3000 seized animals were unaccountable (neither adopted nor euthanized) at the end of that year!

NOBODY HAS EVER BEEN CONVICTED OF PET EATING UNDER CURRENT LAW!
Since there is a law making the sale of dogmeat illegal in California, we must assume that the restaurants that do sell it are selling meat that has not been inspected. Because dogs must be obtained illegally to be used for food consumption, there is always the chance that the animal may be on medications that could be hazardous to the person eating the meat. The USDA Food and Safety Inspection Service is responsible for ensuring that the nation's supply of meat is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled.   When asked for it's response on this issue, and specifically to address the legality aspects and their involvement, USDA representative Wayne Humphries forwarded my request to Jackie Knight, at Media Communication in Washington, DC. Her reply? "The Food Safety and Inspection Service does not process dog meat for human consumption. Dog meat is not amenable to the Federal Meat Act.
 Exotic foods are under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration."
     When contacted via e-mail, FDA's webmaster replied," FDA, the Food and Drug Administration, is who you referred to in your request. They inspect foods other than meat and poultry. I did not forward your request to them because USDA inspects meat and poultry. I have forwarded your request to the USDA Food and Safety Inspection Service Technical Center, who told me to contact District Attorney Gil Garcetti. I wrote to Garcetti's office on October 20th, 1998, and am still waiting for a reply...

ANIMAL RIGHTS "EXPERTS" USELESS
     I met with Barbara Fabricant, L.A. humane officer and president of the Humane Task Force, who arranged a meeting for me with Senator Rosenthal's office. Both seemed very interested in this issue, and requested that I purchase a sample of the dish, and they would have it analyzed. After I did so, and gave it to Fabricant's representative, Fabricant then decided that even if the sample proved to be dogstew, there was no actual proof that the dish was purchased from the restaurant in question.  Rosenthal's office promptly lost interest.
     A plea for help was addressed to the office of L.A. City Attorney James Hahn, who has stated that his intent is to "vigorously enforce animal cruelty laws."
His office replied with a form letter! The next step was to seek legal help. Michael Rotsten, celebrated Attorney-at-Law for the Animal Rights Law Office, was contacted. Rotsten offered these words of wisdom: "When you go to a restaurant that serves "buffalo wings", that does not mean the meat contains buffalo."
    AT THIS POINT IN THE HANDBILL, I SHOW BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTOS OF THE RESTAURANT PROFILED IN THE CH 9 EXPOSE, WITH THESE CAPTIONS:
BEFORE:
Los Angeles restaurant sign advertising "hook yim so" (goat stew) and "boshintang" (dog stew). The 3 symbols on the right say boshintang in red, while the other symbols are in black, and in a different type style.
AFTER:
Restaurant owners claimed that the sign said "dog stew served with goat meat" (the only difference between the two dishes is the meat, so there is no reason to advertise boshintang at all). After showing this restaurant's sign on the Channel 9 feature, the restaurant immediately  changed the sign to the one above. If the sign did not indicate that they were serving boshintang, why did they take the sign down?
" A food must not be sold under the name of another food." (Sec. 403(b))-Requirements of Laws and Regulations Enforced (?) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

WHERE DO THESE RESTAURANTS GET DOGS FROM?
Restaurant owners who wish to provide these dishes must rely on criminals to obtain animals. "Bunchers", as they are called. are people who obtain animals illegally, and sell them to restaurants, vivisection labs, satanic cults*, and pit bull fighting rings. Wherever they can make a quick profit. Most often, bunchers obtain animals from "FREE TO GOOD HOME" ads in the local newspaper.
By masquerading as an animal lover, sometimes going as far as to bring a child along, he can easily obtain several animals in one day. By selling the animals for much more than he paid (nothing!), it's not hard to imagine how lucrative this cottage industry is. Animal Activist groups estimate at least
30 known bunchers are operating in Orange County alone!
 
BOSHINTANG - "A TIME HONORED KOREAN TRADITION"
According to the Sing Tao Daily Korean newspaper, "all body parts of a dog have excellent nutritional value. It's fur, bones, teeth, foot/toes, brain, heart, liver, bladder, kidney, blood, and saliva. They can all be made into a healthy tonic."
The article goes on to state, "The dog penis contains an abundance of protein and fat but also the male hormone which can help cure problems of impotence and related sex problems." Scientists, however, dispute these claims. Several Orange County and Los Angeles oriental medicine supply houses indicate (on internet webpages) that they stock Gushin (powdered dog penis).
   Popular Korean belief is that due to the adrenaline rush it creates, the more painful the death, the tastier the meat. Dogs are usually killed by slow hanging, beating (often in combination), electric shock through the tongue, and particularly for cats, drowning in large drums or pounding to death in
Hessian sacks. The fur is burned off with a blowtorch, and not necessarily after the animal is dead.
Puppies and kittens have a more "delicate flavor", and are often boiled for broth or "Goyangi-tan" (liquid cat) as it may be called. Many Koreans believe that this is their culture and they should be allowed  to indulge. My question is this: We live in America...what about OUR culture?
 
Update NOV 2002 by Rudy Allen:
 Boshintang is indeed alive and well in California. I just returned from a
surveillance mission this weekend, where I took video footage of a Korean dog
farm/"family picnic" in the desert. The local officials know all about it and
even did a raid, but since they didn't actually SEE the killing going on,
would do nothing. What they DID see was signs on the highway advertising the
picnic (3 in all)  as well as the kennels housing around 200 dogs, an
orchard that they supposedly run for profit but neighbors say that no fruit
is ever picked, and the dogs never leave the premises alive, so therefore no
one is SELLING them. Officials found a menu of dogmeat prices. Last weekend
the local paper ran ads saying to effect, "wanted: any unwanted animals. Will
give loving home." Neighbors saw whites drop their animals off on that
weekend, and later the Koreans put them all in a truck and drove away. I
called the number and it had been disconnected. There is another
dogfarm/religious "retreat" 30 mi. from this one, again, out in the desert.
There are at least 3 restaurants in L.A.'s Koreatown that still advertise the
dogs, and at least one in Orange County that does the same. I am enclosing
some pics I took myself that show the advertising. Of course you will not be
able to read the sign, which is how they get away with it. If you DO happen
to know a Korean who will translate, and he says it's anything other than
Boshintang, I GUARANTEE you that if you ask ANOTHER Korean who doesn't know
the first one, he will give you an entirely different translation!
By the way, I've taken photos of EVERY restaurant that advertises. I also
came across one that is a storefront, next to a Boshintang restaurant, that
specializes in KOREAN CUSTOM HEALTH SOUP - all that is in the place is an
office area, and then behind the (usually) closed door, a room full of
pressure cookers. I gather by "custom," they mean that you BRING YOUR OWN
"catch of the day" for them to make soup from.
  
* We have been told that it is most unlikely that Satanists would be involved in this kind of thing.

2. RAINING CATS AND DOGS ON VANCOUVER MENUS 
While many Asian countries are taking steps to ban the eating of cats and dogs, it's open season in the Lower Mainland. In Vancouver, it's perfectly legal to slaughter a cat or a dog for dinner. "Any animal, in fact can be eaten by anyone," John Vanderhoven, the Director of the Vancouver SPCA informed The Asian Pacific Post recently, "so long as it is done humanely. Animal laws only deal with the humane treatment of animals." That policy, however, has angered many in the city, including Mayor Phillip Owen's office. "As far as the mayor is concerned," stated an infuriated Janet Fraser, executive assistant to Mayor Philip Owen, "eating cats and dogs is absolutely unacceptable. It will never be allowed in Vancouver." "I can't understand the SPCA," bristled Fraser. "Saving pets is what they are all about." "That seething discontent, however, is unlikely to prevent anyone from doing what is acceptable under the law. For hundreds of years cats and dogs have been eaten by Asians. In traditional Chinese medicine, dogs are highly prized for their healing value. According to Dr. Martin Kwok, of the Richmond Alternative Medical Clinic, people from China's Canton province consider yellow colored dogs to be excellent for digestion and aiding kidney function. They are supposedly also good for boosting energy levels, and consequently are often consumed over winter. For Maria Matheson, who owns a Dalmatian pup, the health aspect of cat or dog meat is difficult to digest. She was sickened by the thought of anyone eating a cat or dog. "It's like cannibalism yo me. It'd be like eating your brother or sister." Unlike cannibalism, however, eating a cat or dog is not a criminal offence. As far as the Vancouver Police is concerned, its not an incident that is deserving of their attention. "The criminal code deals with people not animals," stated Janice Williams, assistant to Constable Anne Drennan of the Vancouver Police Department. "If it's nor protected under the criminal code, then it's not in our jurisdiction. Regulation of food consumption does, however, fall into the jurisdiction of the Richmond Vancouver health board. Like the police, and the SPCA, the health board also does not see a problem with eating cats and dogs. "We have no restrictions on the killing of cats and dogs for personal consumption," explains Kelvin Hugo, the Chief Health Inspector of Richmond, "no more than we do for people going to hunt a deer, a moose, or a bunny rabbit in the backyard." "The only stickler is in the meat inspection area," he continued. "In Canada, all meat has to be processed through registered plants. Because cats and dogs are nor considered as food animals, they cannot be processed and therefore sold in shops." The list of food animals currently butchered in Canada is growing. In the recent past, ostrich meat. has been added to the list, and currently a new bid for kangaroo meat is being considered. Whether household pets find their way into grocery stores depends on the persuasiveness of lobby efforts. Some people found that thought enticing. Randy Doncaster, the Manager of the Cat and Fiddle Neighborhood Pub in Coquitlam, stated that he would try the meat if given the opportunity. "I personally wouldn't have anything against eating a cat or dog if it was properly cooked. It's just meat like everything else, like grouse, or rabbit. I wouldn't have a problem if it was cooked up in shish-kabob style."

RESPONSES TO above Canadian article:

1. Anyone ever looked closely into the face of a cow? I guarantee you will see
the same kind of innocence and trust that one sees in a dog's face. I hate
to sound like a broken record, but if so-called animal-lovers would all
unite in opposition to using animals as human property, period, there would
be no need to fight a million individual battles. Battles which amount to
continued use of nonhumans, some pampered --some butchered. When will
so-called "animal lovers" stop fighting animal abuse at the BACK end, which
involves suffering and death. Perhaps I'm preaching to the choir here, but I
challenge anyone to tell me how constantly regulating the way humans may use
and kill animals does anything to provide substantial and lasting relief.
Imagine if all the millions who profess to love animals suddenly rejected
the use of nonhumans as property, as a resource for everything from cuddly
companions, to food, to research, on and on..... Well, I can think of two
reasons why this hasn't happened: one, good people haven't made the
connection yet, or two, they are happy with their perceived entitlement to
use/own other beings. The former is my hope --my reason for continuing to
fight, and the latter is my fear --my dread that no matter what we say,
those conditioned by religion and other speciesist mindsets will continue to
love some non-human-animals and butcher others.
Chris Kelly

2. Having spent a good percentage of my life living and working in different
parts of China, I have seen some of the most atrocious attitudes and actions
toward animals in the world (for ex., animals are frequently butchered piece
by piece while still alive in outdoor markets). Strangely enough, stemming
from the same experiences, I can say I have seen some of the most resolute
and compassionate in the world (Buddhism and vegetarianism are widespread in
all parts of China). I have spent time in several places in China where
eating cats and dogs is absolutely commonplace (Hunan, Taiwan, for ex.).
I mention these things mostly by way of saying that I am adamant in my
conviction that efforts to protect cats and dogs from human dinner tables on
the basis of their somehow being "more important" than other animals is
misguided and destructive. The implication is too clearly "Well, we think
eating pigs and cows and chickens is tolerable, but dogs and cats? No way,
that's just too much." That implication hopelessly confuses things. It sets
up some very obvious double standards.
In a much more benign way, trying to distinguish between hemp and marijuana
is equally confusing and destructive to all concerned (bad for both sides,
if you will). Like it or not, it's the same plant.
And like it or not, an animal is an animal is an animal. We who would fight
for the ethically-sound treatment of all human and non-human animals (and
the ecosystems that support their lives) need, I believe, to be very clear
that we feel that eating dogs and cats is in no way worse than eating cows,
pigs, chickens, or an any other sentient, intelligent, low-entropy sorters.
Here's where we get into being thought of disparagingly as "animal lovers"
"house-pet defenders" or whatever instead of staunch, ethically-backed,
principles-based defenders of all sacred beings and things that fit so
perfectly into the infinitely-complex web of life.
So, okay, fight against dogs and cats being eaten in Vancouver and other
places. But don't do it as a separate campaign from the broader fight
against carnivorism, animal-experimentation, etc. I mean, don't let one
fight detract from your energies for the other. They must be considered, and
be seen by the "unconverted", as one in the same fight.
Adam Gottschalk

3. How does it sound this way ? 
RAINING CHICKENS AND COWS ON VANCOUVER MENUS 
While many Asian countries are taking steps to ban the eating of chickens and cows, it's open season in the Lower Mainland. In Vancouver, it's perfectly legal to slaughter a chicken or a cow for dinner. "Any animal, in fact can be eaten by anyone," John Vanderhoven, the Director of the Vancouver SPCA informed The Asian Pacific Post recently, "so long as it is done humanely. Animal laws only deal with the humane treatment of animals." That policy, however, has angered many in the city, including Mayor Phillip Owen's office.
"As far as the mayor is concerned," stated an infuriated Janet Fraser, executive assistant to Mayor Philip Owen, "eating chickens and cows is absolutely unacceptable. It will never be allowed in Vancouver." "I can't understand the SPCA," bristled Fraser. "Saving pets is what they are all about." "That seething discontent, however, is unlikely to prevent anyone from doing what is acceptable under the law. For hundreds of years chickens and cows have been eaten by Asians. In traditional Chinese medicine, cows are highly prized for their healing value.
According to Dr. Martin Kwok, of the Richmond Alternative Medical Clinic, people from China's Canton province consider yellow colored cows to be excellent for digestion and aiding kidney function. They are supposedly also good for boosting energy levels, and consequently are often consumed over winter.
For Maria Matheson, who owns a Dalmatian pup, the health aspect of chicken or cow meat is difficult to digest. She was sickened by the thought of anyone eating a chicken or cow. "It's like cannibalism to me. It'd be like eating your brother or sister."
Unlike cannibalism, however, eating a chicken or cow is not a criminal offence. As far as the Vancouver Police is concerned, its not an incident that is deserving of their attention. "The criminal code deals with people not animals," stated Janice Williams, assistant to Constable Anne Drennan of the Vancouver Police Department.
"If it's not protected under the criminal code, then it's not in our jurisdiction. Regulation of food consumption does, however, fall into the jurisdiction of the Richmond Vancouver health board. Like the police, and the SPCA, the health board also does not see a problem with eating chickens and cows. "We have no restrictions on the killing of chickens and cows for personal consumption," explains Kelvin Hugo, the Chief Health Inspector of Richmond, "no more than we do for people going to hunt a deer, a moose, or a bunny rabbit in the backyard." "The only stickler is in the meat inspection area," he continued. "In Canada, all meat has to be processed through registered plants. Because chickens and cows are nor considered as food animals, they cannot be processed and therefore sold in shops." The list of food animals currently butchered in Canada is growing. In the recent past, ostrich meat. has been added to the list, and currently a new bid for kangaroo meat is being considered. Whether household pets find their way into grocery stores depends on the persuasiveness of lobby efforts.
Some people found that thought enticing. Randy Doncaster, the Manager of the Cat and Fiddle Neighborhood Pub in Coquitlam, stated that he would try the meat if given the opportunity. "I personally wouldn't have anything against eating a chicken or cow if it was properly cooked. It's just meat like everything else, like grouse, or rabbit. I wouldn't have a problem if it was cooked up in shish-kabob style."
Carsten Scholvien

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Last revised: 11 August, 2004