Dog Meat is Not Korean Traditional Food

If you don't know by now, I'm Korean. If there is any negative stereotype Koreans are known for, it is that they eat dog meat. Now, is this some sort of elaborate lie? Of course not; it's absolutely true. I remember walking through a street market when I was a kid, and there were slaughtered dogs ready to be sold. What you have to understand though, is that dog meat is NOT a common food. Just because it exists, doesn't mean people consume it regularly. Saying "all Koreans eat dogs" is like saying "all Americans are Latino gang members". Nowadays, it's just as unpopular in Korea as it is in any country in the world, mostly due to the younger generation being used to keeping dogs as pets.

Anyway, the only reason I'm bringing this up is because I am sick and tired of hearing ignorant, narrow-minded people complaining about how people consume dog meat. There is simply no valid reason for why anyone would be against it. I don't care what your beliefs are; nothing is "right" if it's completely clouded in bias. Let me explain to you why it's foolish to chastise people for eating dogs.

In the past, meat (and food in general) was incredibly scarce in Korea. My parents and most of my friend's parents grew up poor and starving. When you live in that sort of condition, how can you possibly afford to be picky? Most families were lucky to have a piece of meat each year. That is why Koreans started eating dogs. It wasn't present-day USA; cows and pigs weren't everywhere. They had to eat whatever they could find. This also explains why Chinese people are known for eating all sorts of "weird" things. Do you really think starving people get to choose what they eat? If that's the case, then you are in desperate need of a reality check.

If you're one of those people that look down on others simply because you don't like the idea of eating dog, then you are also incredibly ignorant (a huge majority of people hate dog consumption for this reason, sadly). "Oh my god, how can you eat dogs? That's so cruel", they say, as they munch on their chicken salad. You really have to ask yourself: what sets dogs apart from other animals? What makes dogs so much more deserving of compassion? People eat pigs and cows and chickens all day every day, but when it's a dog, suddenly it's the worst thing in the world.

Do you know why you hate the idea of eating dogs? Because they're cute, and you're used to petting them and keeping them as companions. That is the ONLY reason. It's a personal and cultural bias. If it was normal for society to keep chickens as household pets, we would all be grossed out about eating chickens. It's as simple as that. Western society has this horrible habit of thinking they are the pinnacle of humanity, so it is only natural for them to look down on other cultures for doing things that they are not used to. "But some things are just morally wrong!" Really? I'm not even going to explain why that is an idiotic thing to say.

You might be thinking, "Alright, maybe it was okay a long time ago because people were starving, but why continue to eat them?" Well, I answered that question earlier. People DON'T eat dogs these days. You'd have to look really hard, in very particular areas of South Korea to find any sellers of dog meat. So please, enough with the ignorance. There is simply no excuse for speaking out against something you don't understand.