I think it’s stupid that Michael Vick is being suspended, sent to jail, and totally hung out to dry by the media for what he did. Sure, he broke the law … but had he taken drugs, gotten in a fight, or even beaten up his wife, the reaction wouldn’t have been nearly as strong.
I don’t get it … are dogs somehow more important and valuable than moles, snakes, rabbits, or mosquitoes? Do they have souls? Are people upset because dogs are usually domesticated, because they bleed more, or because they often have names? Or is all the uproar just because Vick and company were training them to kill?
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August 25th, 2007 at 10:07 am EST
Lance, that picture is severe! Was that in Loudi?
August 25th, 2007 at 11:12 am EST
Nice shot of Chinese meat market.
To answer your question, Americans think with their kidneys.
Other people eat dogs and horses, but Americans worship the critters. Not to worry. Americans will soon be a minority in the World Government, and then they might be forced to eat their dogs and horses too. At least until the last battle between the Hindoos and the Mohammedans, in which case they might be stuck with tofu, depending on the outcome of the battle. Either side wins, goodbye pork chops.
Or — maybe the Chinese will step in and abolish both of those travesties, in which case the world will be back to eating dogs and horses. Sanity is found in the strangest places.
August 25th, 2007 at 1:06 pm EST
The photo was taken in an open-air meat market in Kunming (a large city in southwest China). The dog meat was being sold out-of-season (in February) and was “imported” from another part of China (I forget where).
Willy, sometimes I don’t know how to react to your comments.
But it’s good to see them again!
August 25th, 2007 at 4:39 pm EST
I think partly it’s that we think of dogs as semi-human and cuddly.
The other part is that he didn’t just fight the dogs, or kill some. It’s that they hung them in the woods and if that didn’t kill ‘em, they drowned them in buckets. If something has to be “put down”, there are quicker, relatively more painless ways of doing it.
August 25th, 2007 at 9:34 pm EST
I’ve been in a truck for several hours today listening to the AM radio…its interesting how many people just said fine him several million, give it to the humane society and let him go on probation…
others said he should die and that football is just as bad because it encourages violence…
i like dogs, and i don’t gamble. personally i think that this should be between one man and the laws he broke…not 700 wlw, the us media, and one man…and that my opinion on the matter ultimately shouldn’t matter unless we are gonna change the laws…
August 26th, 2007 at 3:12 am EST
People get upset about this sort of thing because it is a safe way to appear benevolent and righteous without having to bring into serious question their own behavior. It is interesting that all of the other ills of human behavior that you mentioned are indeed hardly uncommon. It is easier to look through a window than into a mirror.
p.s. - cool pic
August 27th, 2007 at 11:11 am EST
did you get to taste dog over in China? does it taste like chicken? what about cat?
August 27th, 2007 at 12:03 pm EST
Cruelty to animals is one of the first identifying signs for antisocial disorder. Not saying he is antisocial…I’m just saying.
And he wasn’t killing animals for food or survival or because he views the killing of animals as a cultural difference. He was killing them for entertainment. Killing for enjoyment on any level is sick. There is something in a person that can do that…that seems just one step away from doing it to a human being. And this is what I know from personal experience.
August 27th, 2007 at 2:07 pm EST
David, that was really profound. David Burke, that is … the other David stated the obvious thing that everyone forgets!
HP, I ate dog on several occasions … and I must say, when cooked well it is absolutely delicious. It’s a “winter” meat with a very distinct taste … and according to my palate, its flavor ranked up there with the Beijing roast duck, venison kabob, bullfrog, rabbit kabob, and roasted baby swallows. Dog is often cooked in “hot pot”, a fondue-type-dinner where you cook your own food at the table. It’s fun!
Don’t worry, though … they’re not cooking pets or stray dogs off the streets or anything … it’s a certain breed that is raised specifically for that purpose (just like cows, pigs, and chickens are here). And it can be very expensive, so it’s a real treat to taste good dog meat.
Kelly, your answer makes the most sense, methinks. But I wonder if the entertainment comes from the killing or from the fighting? If it’s the fighting, then perhaps we should be more critical of boxing and UFC and the like too …
August 27th, 2007 at 10:22 pm EST
wouldn’t being more critical of more violent sports just spawn more? like a fight club effect. people just go brutal because they can’t get enough of a less violent and essentially sports-like entity?
then again…Kelly’s answer was specifically for the killing i believe, not the fighting. The fighting isn’t ethical either, with the dogs not really having any idea what they are fighting for, but the skill of the trainer and its breeding shows through how well the dog fights. Boxing involves men with every idea of what they are fighting for doing what they do best, as do many of the like. Boxing is tricky because it is based off of how much damage would be done without the gloves, making it not as violent as other martial arts, which are meant to stop your attacker.
Showing off skill as a cognizant being is fine, but i would have to talk to some people in the industry before i judged it, either dog or fighter.
mmm…
August 27th, 2007 at 11:35 pm EST
interesting. my favorite dish while in china was pigeon. would have loved to try dog though, as long as it wasn’t ROVER cooked.
August 28th, 2007 at 9:20 am EST
Yes, David … studies have proven that rough play (wrestling, “fighting”, etc) with young children, especially boys, decreases violent tendencies and increases conflict resolution skills in later years.
When I was in southern Vietnam, I rounded the corner of a village and stumbled upon a cockfight. And those birds knew exactly what they were fighting for … survival. To say that there’s more “awareness” or “purpose” when humans fight is overestimating those humans and undervaluing the primal tendencies that we all have.
August 28th, 2007 at 5:51 pm EST
Of course it is not often that we throw a couple of human beings into a ring and ask them fight to the death.
As far as I know, the time of the Gladiators has passed.
Boxing and Wrestling are not acts of survival.
August 28th, 2007 at 7:16 pm EST
Why is it that every time I look at the picture for this post it makes me extremely hungry??? Is there something wrong with me???
August 28th, 2007 at 10:28 pm EST
Yes. It looks disgusting.
September 6th, 2007 at 8:49 am EST
animals don’t have that pulled punch effect though…unless unleashed (jet li) is correct, then yes, kelli is correct and there is no comparison. my sister was reading the most dangerous game and it puts into perspective for me again what I think about killing…is that when you are pursued in killing it no longer becomes the sport but rather the survival, a thrill for some insane people, but for most a completely terrifying and brutal aspect of life that never should be repeated.
but what animal fighting has ever been anything but pitting the skills of one animal to the death, both brutal and terrifying to it?