MyThofDOGES

　　DogmeateatingisprobablyoneofthemostunbelievableculturalshocksanAmericancouldeverrunintotravelinginChina。ThisisnotonlybecausethecuteandloyalcompanionhavebecomeapartoftheirhouseholdlifebackintheStates，moreimportantly，whentheyseethecrueltyandvolumeatwhichdogsareslaughteredforfoodinChinaandtheattitudeoftakingitforgrantedthatChinesepeopleshowcaseondogeatingbehaviorarejustunbearableforthem。Well，inaccordancewithconsideringspecificsituationunderspecificstandards，Chinesepeopledohavereasonstojustifytheirsuchbehaviorforeatingdogs。DogeatinghasbeenathousandyeartraditioninCdistinctionbetweenmeatdogsandpetdogsisclearlymadeinthecountryandthecountry’scurrentanimalrightsmovementunderebbsareallreasonstojustifyChinesepeople’sdogeatingbehavior。Firstoff，forChinesepeople，eatingdogisasnaturalaseatinganotheranimalsthatprovidetheirmeatforhumanconsumption。DogeatinghasbeenatraditionforthousandsofyearsinChina。ItcanbetracedbacktothreethousandsofyearsagowhentheclassicTheBookofSongsandShiJi（HistoricalRecords）allhaverecordingsabouteatingdogs。Backthen，dogeatingwasnotonlyprevalent，butalsoconsideredahugedeal。Oftentimes，whenareligiousandpoliticaleventwasheld，dogmeatwouldbeonthetablesofmealsfordevouring。ShiJimostfamouslyrecordedsuchfamoushistoricalfigureasLiuBangandXiangYueatingdogmeatinthenotoriousHongGateBanquetanecdote（HongMengYan）。Backinthosedays，dogmeatswereconsideredagoodwaytoshowrespectforone’sguests，notonlybecausetheyaretasty，butalsothatancientChinesepeoplehaddevelopedlotsofvaryingwaystocookdogmeat，makingthemthemostnutritiouswaystoreplenishProtein。Eveninmoderndays，dogeatingissonaturalinsomepartofChinathatpeoplehavejusttakenitasanaturalpartoftheirlives。IntheSouthwesternChinesecityofYulin，whereeveryyear，anannualdogeatingfestivalwouldbeheldwhencitizenswouldeatdogmeatandlitchi。Somemightarguewhydogandlitchi。It’snotadeliberateuncivilizedchoosingofdogmeat，butratheronlyanaturalresultofitsratherhumidnaturalenvironment。Peopleneeddogmeattoprovidethenutritionandproteintheirbodiesrequire。Also，duetoculturalreasons，thisareahasatraditionofkeepingdogsasfoodsupply。It’sonlyamatteroflocalandregionaltradition。Nosuchthingasethicalrulesapplyinthissector。Otherwise，peoplewouldmakethesamecaseforAmericanseatingpig。Because，afterall，therearedifferencesbetweendogsandpigswhenitcomestotheiranimalsrights。Therefore，insomepartsofChina，dogeatingismerelyathousandyeartradition。Secondly，whileChinesepeoplearecrazyaboutdogmeatsandrightfullyso，becauseit’sreallycookedwell，theyarenotpointingtheirmenutothepetdogsthattheythemselvesortheirneighborsarekeeping。Thereisstillacleardistinctionbetweenmeatdogsandpetdogs。Asmodernizationhitsthecountry，somecitydwellersstarttokeepingdogsaspets，asacompanion。Inthiscase，thefunctionofthesedogsareequaltothosepetdogsinAmerica。Thisiswhereactualcomparisoncanbemade。Chinesepeopledon’teatpetdogs，notbecausethesedogsareconsideredhuman’sbestfriendsorhuman’sgreatestcompanion，butonlybecauseitfeelsweirdandawkwardtoeatsomebody’spets。Therefore，whenapetdogsispresentedtoabutcher，itwon’tbeconsideredmaterialforfood。InChina，petdogsaredecoratedwithclothsandwalkedalongsidetheirmastersonhighstreets。Peoplewouldthrowuptoeventhinkoftheideaofeatingthesedogs，butbecausetheyrespecttheirrights，butbecausetheydespisesuchdogs。Thesedogsareevenputinsituationbetterthanhumans。Theyshouldbeturned，buteaten。Theydon’tdeservethewarmstomachofconstructionworkerswhoworksohardtobuildcitiesandeverything。Rather，theyshouldbeslaughteredandthenthrewaway。So，asaresult，thereisnoethicaldilemmainChinaforeatingpetdogsforpetdogsdon’tdeservetobeeaten。Lastly，theethicalconsequencesofeatingdogshavebeenverboselyarguedbyanimalrightsactivistsinthewest，includingorespeciallyintheU。S。。Whilethisessaydoesn’tholdanyoftheseargumentationtobewaterholding，let’sjustassumethesetheoreticalandethicalargumentstobenecessary。Evenso，thereisstillnopreventingChinesepeoplefromeatingdogs。ForinChina，noonetalksaboutanimalrights。Afewscholarsmaybedoingsuchresearch。But，it’snotevenatopicforeverydayChinesepeople。Forthem，eatingdogisasnaturalaseatingabowlofnoodles。Whentheyheartheideathatdogsshouldnotbeeaten，theyjustsmileandshrugandquietlywalkaway。Theyarenotevengoingtoarguewithyou。BecausehereinChina，awarenessinanimalrightshasnotevenblossomedyet。It’snotaproblematalljustlikeit’snotaproblemtoholdgunsprivatelyintheU。S。。Ifcomparisonscanbemadeatsuchterms，legalgunpossessionisalsosomethingthatChinesewouldholdasculturalshockaswell。SomemightarguefromtheperspectiveofAmericanhistoryandculturethatlegalgunpossessionisnotagainstethicalrules。ThesamecanbedoneaboutChinesepeople’seatingdog。Allinall，whatseemstobeahugeculturalshockcaneasilybejustified。HistoricaltraditionsgivedogeatinghistoricbackgroundswhilerealitiesinsouthwesternpartofChinaisanothersolidjustificationforsuchbehavior。Lastly，whenpeoplethinkthatdogeatingisagainstanimalrights，logicalargumentationsuchaswhat’sthedifferencesbetweendogsandpigsarenotevengoingtobebroughtupinChina。ForinChina，animalrightawarenessisnotexistenttherefore，therealityisdogeatingisasroutineaseatingpigsintheAmerica。Forthosewhostillholddogeatingasculturalshock，maybegettingusedtoitisagoodwaytogo。Afterall，mostoftheAmericanpeoplewhocometoChinawouldlovetohaveatasteofdog，orsnakeoralltheotherthingstheydon’thavechancetotastebackathome。Lookingatthingsfromadifferentperspectiveisnotonlythepointofopeningupone’smind，butalsowhat’ssogreatabouttravelingtoorlivinginadifferentpartofthisworld。Thisworldissobiganddifferencessomany，dogeatingcannotbetheworstofthemall。