An Italian restaurant in Incheon (the restaurant right above ‘cafe Tiamo’ on the picture above) came under pressure last week for attempting to introduce dog-meat spaghetti to its menu. This caused a storm on the internet, causing netizens both online, and then offline, to demand the immediate withdrawal of the “spaghetti alla carne” from the restaurant’s menu; the owner gave in to their demands and apologised. After the incident made it in the press, it would appear that, as suggested below, netizens from both sides of the camp literally had a mouthful to share, garnering thousands of comments on Naver, one of the major portal websites in Korea. The majority of the commenters on Naver defended their dog-eating culture, contrasting the previous group of netizens who achieved the shining victory against the restaurant.
From Naver:
Restaurant Stops Selling ‘Dog Meat Spaghetti’ in Response to Netizen Uproar
A restaurant located in Incheon started selling ‘Dog meat spaghetti’, this caused uproar among netizens leading them to take action. And so, the restaurant removed the dish from the menu. On 12th, the restaurant in Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon posted an announcement on its homepage, saying, ‘we would like to inform you that now we serve dog-meat pasta, pizza, and its boiled meat’.
The news spread virally through social network services, bringing in strong objection from animal rights groups. The district’s town hall is reported to have received a lot of complaints demanding the suspension of the sale of the dish. Two days later, on 14th, the restaurant apologised and removed the dish from the menu.
The restaurant said ‘The chef invented the recipe out of the passion for cooking, yet it is at odds with a lot of people’, ‘we sincerely apologise for making a scene on the internet, poorly responding to netizens,’ and added, ‘we shall never use dog-meat from now on.’
Comments from Naver:
red_****:
Some of you say dogs are our best friends.. You love dogs so much, then why you guys separate mommy dogs from their precious babies in the name of ‘adoption’ and sterilise the babies? Mommy dogs would be thrilled to hear you have no choice but separating the mother and babies for lack of time and resources. Oh, don’t forget the sterilised babies, too! After all, you guys are doing these immoral practices to toy with the living creatures, yet you cannot stand to see someone eating dogs, can you?
vip_****:
Puppies wag their tails because that is part of their survival instinct; to call it ‘cute’ is our self-justification. Domesticated animals were not created that way from the beginning. It is the ‘dominators’ (humans) stance that domesticated animals are okay to be butchered. All living creatures are equal: humans are under the illusion that they are superior to other creatures, yet that is just we humans’ point of view. Whether it is puppies or cows, they were born to become neither food nor pets.
aly3****:
Even stupid dog lovers would say ‘son of a bitch’ when they swear.
인천대현:
Chickens, pigs, cows, sheep, geese, snails… they are all my friends, yet why do you guys eat them?? Only someone who can explain it nice and clear should make comments. Stop saying ‘it’s barbaric!’ piece of crap.
hun5****:
To people who are generous with the dog-meat issue… Dogs dedicated for food are as smart as the rest of the species. And when one realises the way the dogs are treated during the course of ‘farming’, it would be hard to eat the meat. They get fed on their fellow dog’s organs and other non-commercial body parts, which aggravates the level of stress they are exposed to; they know where their meals are coming from, and they become more and more violent with time. Human beings can be that cruel. The way restaurants cook the dogs is not so clean, either. There were a number of reports on this issue.. I recommend you to find alternatives to dog-meat; there are many of them..
sso1****:
All animal rights activists are supposed to be vegans, aren’t they?
ruin****:
It is more barbaric to sterilise and get dogs adopted against their will; worst of all, to euthenise or abandon dogs is cruel and inhumane. They call them pets; in reality, the dogs are living toys.
ckl8****:
Some of you say ‘what part of the world will treat dogs as farm animals?’ And you know what? To reverse the question, ‘what part of the world will treat pigs or cows as farm animals?’ In Arab countries, people don’t eat pork; pigs are not edible there. And where Hinduism is dominant religion such as India, cows are sacred animal; they are not treated as domesticated animals, but as gods.. In the same token, it is OUR culture to treat dogs as farm animals; what’s your logic to talk against it?
ehte****:
No animals are created to be eaten: in the beginning of the history, chickens, puppies, or whatever animals were not domesticated to be eaten. People simply got used to eating certain species, that’s all..
oz10****:
I’m not saying that you all have to become a vegan. The issue here is how to kill the animals.. No one eats milk cows, ornamental chickens or pet pigs; therefore, pet dogs or stray dogs are not supposed to become food. However, many dog-meat restaurants catch and cook stray dogs.. Even if the dogs have skin covered with pus.. Whatever the species is, there are different categories to fall into: pet, ornamental animal and edible animal. I want you to only eat ‘edible’ ones. Finally, I’m not just talking about dogs.. The way animals are raised and killed has to be improved to more humane way!
ddoo****:
Sometimes it’s irritating to hear what animal right activists say. They judge people who make dogs uncomfortable, but what about dogs making our lives uncomfortable? Dogs barking incessantly, pooping and urinating everywhere, dogs at supermarkets with their hairs flying around… Animal rights groups have to educate the pet owners first to tackle this animal right issue, then all of us will start listening to the activists.
1012****:
If some of you think horses are edible, then why aren’t dogs edible? Horses are as much emotionally connected with human beings as dogs; what does separate them from one another? What about leather products, purses and shoes? There are numerous products that are harmful to animals. To what point should we make sacrifice for animals? I think only life-long vegans deserve to talk about this dogs right issue; even they don’t have a right to judge the rest of us for being different. If snail dish, shark’s fins, and monkey soup are called ‘culinary art’, then why can’t be dog-meat one of them?
seph****:
Eating dogs is part of meat-eating culture, which has been silently approved to be part of human beings’ lives for a long time. However, the objection on dog-eating practice has much shorter history; it’s less than a century. Therefore, to eat or not to eat is up to individual’s free will, and someone trying to restrict this freedom is obliged to make more reasonable case. Your favourite phrases such as, ‘Dogs are our friends, they are so smart’ and so on doesn’t make a convincing case. The notion, ‘dogs as friends of human beings’, is a creation by humans, not necessarily the fundamental element of human-dog relationship.
shen****:
Some of you say ‘dogs have the closest relationship with us’; we specifically said we are not defending eating pets, what are you, dyslexic? To think of the closest living things to us humans, it should be mosquitos: After all, we share the blood.
torn****:
The worst girlfriend material ever: Gaedok+Gaeppa+Boseul+North Korea Sympathiser+Nate Pan girls [Gaeppa: Stupid dog lovers, Nate Pan: one of infamous forums in Korea]
tang****:
You pet owners won’t let your dogs bark to the point to get them surgery done; you castrate them; when indoor potty training goes wrong, you slap your dogs; and when your dogs get pregnant and have babies, you sell them off, no matter how the mother dogs would feel. ke ke ke The puppies must be very grateful for your decision. ke
dnjs****:
Hey, guys, do you think dogs are the only thoughtful, loyal animals? They don’t usually face many challenges in their lives.. Let me ask you something: why do you eat beef, they spent the whole lives working at rice fields; why do you eat pork, they are locked in small sties for their entire lives; why do you eat chickens, they spend the whole lives laying eggs until death like vending machines . Dogs aren’t the only animals on the planet, you know.
myro****:
You love dogs, yet you leash them, lock them indoors, sterilise them, and ruin their vocal chords so they would never make a noise again. What a remarkable love indeed.
jaey****:
Dogs are dogs, but some dog owners cannot understand the dog-eating practice because they know how smart the dogs are.
mayj****:
Dog meat or whatever.. I don’t have enough money to buy cup noodles.. Fuck the world.. Please, bring down the price!
Woof!
