Cooked alive; China is an earthly hell for dogs

Dogs cooked alive in China

Ernest Dempsey — Do you think the treatment of dogs in America and East Europe or Brazil can sometimes be their worst nightmare? Well, as this article explains there is an even more deadly place, where dogs are treated especially cruelly, which is literally an earthly hell for them.

Today’s economic giant China has places where dogs are baked alive. For any civilized individual, it would be hard to find the right words for this practice, for it is so terrifyingly wrong that the worst term one could think of would be too tame to express this horror of horrors.

The practice of cooking dogs while they are alive is being reported occasionally in China. Last year, Green Prophet published a story on stray dogs being cooked alive in Eastern China. The post had photos of a small homeless puppy being lured toward a woman who was shown in the next photo to be holding the dog by its neck in tongs and cooking it over fire.

A post in the Data Lounge noted that this kind of cooking, which obviously is extremely cruel, dates back thousands of years in Chinese history – a kind of culinary tradition. The Eastern  Chinese city of Kengkou is particularly infamous for this, as the photos of the story making the news were taken from there. But the practice exists, as a sore on the burdened existence of insensitive human hunger.

The writer of the Data Lounge Post rightly noted that while in places where consuming dogs for food is taboo, such practice indeed sounds cruel. Yet, when thought over in the context of all the animal bloodshed and cruelty to animals in the west and other parts of the world, it will become a bit difficult to condemn the Chinese alone for what they do to dogs. In a world where a living, breathing animal, capable of feeling pain and emotions and as much part of our natural scene as any human, how can we overlook what happens to cattle, pigs, poultry, and other animals and still say that we condemn cruelty to animals in China.

In this global drama of senseless slaughter, animals are conveniently made “source of protein” to justify the massacre. Burning dogs alive for food in China is again a reminder that we need to stop now – even now if we could – because life is rotting in our furnace of ignorance.

Folks who are outraged about the practice of cooking dogs alive are urged to request President Obama to raise the issue with China. or to sign one of the petitions available that ask people to publicly raise an outcry against the heinous practice of cooking dogs alive.

In a world where humanitarian issues are important, how man treats his animals is an important criteria in the manner in which one looks at life.  While some believe eating dogs is a usual cultural practice, and therefore China, one of these places, might continue its traditions; it is possible to find an enlightened way to serve one's appetite and not indulge in the kind of cruelty practiced against dogs.

Cooked Alive: China is an earthly hell for dogs

dogs cooked alive

Ernest Dempsey with Carol Forsloff —If you think the treatment of dogs in America, Brazil and Eastern Europe are nightmarish, think again.  There is another place where it is even worse and quite literally an earthly hell for dogs, according to bloggers and the alternative press in China

Today's economic giant China has places where dogs are baked alive. For any civilized individual, it will be hard to find the right words for this practice, for it is so terrifyingly that it is difficult to find words to describe just how awful it is.

The practice of cooking dogs while they are alive is being reported occasionally from China. Last year, Green Prophet published a story on stray dogs being cooked alive in Eastern China. The post had photos of a small homeless puppy being lured toward a woman who was shown in the next photo to be holding the dog by its neck in tongs and cooking it over fire.

A post in the Data Lounge noted that this kind of cooking, which obviously is extremely cruel, dates back thousands of years in Chinese history – a kind of culinary tradition. The Eastern  Chinese city of Kengkou is particularly infamous for this, as the photos of the story making the news were taken from there. But the practice exists, as a sore on the burdened existence of insensitive human hunger.

The writer of the Data Lounge post noted that while in places where consuming dogs for food is taboo, such practice indeed sounds cruel. Yet, when reviewed in the context of all the animal bloodshed and cruelty to animals in the West and other parts of the world, it will become difficult to condemn the Chinese alone for what they do to dogs. In a world where a living, breathing animal, capable of feeling pain and emotions and as much part of nature in that sense, according to science, as humans in response to that pain, animal activists tell us it is important to examine what happens to cattle, pigs, poultry, and other animals that are killed for consumption around the world. Many people maintain they are also treated cruelty.  Therefore, one may ask why indict just China for animal cruelty? Still China's particular way of treating dogs is a high profile example of the worst in preparation of meat for eating. Animal activists object to these practices that are worldwide. While many people eat meat, most would not want animals to be subjected to cruelty in the process of preparing that meat.

Animal activists see cruelty to animals and the killing of them as a "source of protein" to justify their killing as insensitive.  But burning dogs alive is especially cruel and a reminder that the practice goes beyond the ordinary.  And what has been China's response? According to CNN reporter Anna Coren who covered a dog meat festival in China this past June, the participants there declared, as noted in her headline, "It's our culture, and we won't change."

Activists are asking that President Obama persuade China to end the cooking of dogs alive, a particularly cruel way to kill an animal for food, and petitions are available, including one by Linda Camac, for readers and activists to express their outrage that in the modern world animals are treated so badly.  It is a matter of humanitarian concern.

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The above represents substantially the original author's point of view, edited for grammar and usage, but also with an insertion of the Editor of this publication that offers the meat eaters concerns as well, especially in response to animal cruelty.  The article has also been updated with facts from 2014, after the original writer left this publication.

When is euthanasia acceptable?

Vincent Sobotka – Just two days ago, spectators gathered at Surfer’s Paradise, on Australia’s Gold Coast, and turned a wrenching scene filled with potential tragedy into 48-hours of joy and hopefulness. A humpback calf lay beached and suffering. Marine scientists from Sea World, with the assistance of Gold Coast City Council members, revived the whale’s chances for survival, but experts knew the odds remained slim.

Concerns were raised when the mother of the calf had not been spotted during a search in nearby waters. It is estimated that a humpback calf feeds from its mother at least 40 times per-day. Without finding its mother, the calf was not likely to survive and could possibly wind up beached again.

“You can't keep pushing it out; the animal's going to suffer and suffer,” explained Australian Associated Press member Trevor Long, “so the only decision then is that we probably have to euthanize it.” The baby humpback was electronically tagged, to be tracked until reuniting with its mother.

Every year, humpback whales migrate to the Antarctic Ocean for feeding. However, today, Long’s conjecture became an unfortunate reality for the calf recently rescued from certain death. Just off of Brisbane, the humpback calf washed up again this morning, now on the coast of Moreston Island, Australia. Locals were unable to again drag the more than 1.5 ton (1500 kg) mammal back to sea without causing significant harm and fatal suffering to the animal. A team from the Sea World marine park was again summoned, but this time to euthanize the ailing humpback.

Though euthanasia is always a sad solution, and a bigger problem than many realize, one can sometimes accept this as an outcome slightly easier than knowing a living being incapable of improving its own life and so will, otherwise, miserably endure suffering until its death. However, knowing the strict dependency whale calves have on their mothers, as well as the fact that they will suffer injury being transported to deeper waters, to judge when to euthanize a beached infant whale and when to attempt rescue is a moral challenge.

Last month in Riverhead, NY, United States, another whale beached itself against the rocky shores of Montauk beach. Any thoughts of rescue quickly turned to post-death plans of disposal. The whale, bleeding from its injuries, was not euthanized. In fact, no rescue efforts were attempted. Authorities cited federal protocol, which bars them from risking their own lives on the crushing terrain. However, a local reported noted that children approached the whale and attempted to ease its suffering by pouring buckets of water over the animal during low-tide.

Upon comparison of the two scenarios, one is only left to ask who, if anyone, is morally fallacious?