Dog meat off the menu during Beijing Olympics

[johnnymk]

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/ne...8-1561619.html

BEIJING - Canine cuisine is being sent to the doghouse during next month's Beijing Olympic Games.

Dog meat has been struck from the menus of officially designated Olympic restaurants, and Beijing tourism officials are telling other outlets to discourage consumers from ordering dishes made from dogs, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

Waiters and waitresses should "patiently" suggest other options to diners who order dog, it said, quoting city tourism bureau Vice Director Xiong Yumei.

Dog, known in Chinese as "xiangrou," or "fragrant meat," is eaten by some Chinese for its purported health-giving qualities.

Beijing isn't the first Olympic host to slap a ban on the dish.

South Korea banned dog meat during the 1988 Seoul Olympics by invoking a law prohibiting the sale of "foods deemed unsightly." After the Olympics, the ban was not strictly enforced.

Dog meat is also eaten in some other Asian countries, including Vietnam, the Philippines and Laos.

[DarkFury]

So what about the "rat meat"? Or do the Chinese not eat "vols" or whatever else you call a rat in a foreign language..

[uncledaddy]

So, we can still look forward to cat stir fry. :dinner:







J/K!

[Jenny]

I applaud them for their sensitivity but also I realize that they shouldn't have to do that, since it is their country and we are just visitors.

[Maarchk]

I applaud them for their sensitivity but also I realize that they shouldn't have to do that, since it is their country and we are just visitors.

I agree. We all know they do it. So they don't do it for 4 months? Umm ok. it doesn't make me like them more. And if they were eating dog, it wouldn't make me like them less.

Although i can kind of see it scaring off possible diners. So i think it would be something the restaurants would decide on their own.

it's probably for the best. Show of good faith and sensitivity to other culture's love of not eating dogs.

[Jenny]

I agree. We all know they do it. So they don't do it for 4 months? Umm ok. it doesn't make me like them more. And if they were eating dog, it wouldn't make me like them less.

Although i can kind of see it scaring off possible diners. So i think it would be something the restaurants would decide on their own.

it's probably for the best. Show of good faith and sensitivity to other culture's love of not eating dogs.

Exactly my thoughts. Do I want to do it? No. Do I think it's sick and disgusting? Yes. But that's just because of where/how I was raised. I know that.

And yeah, def. can see it keeping some visitors out of places so that's something I could see the restaurants wanting to not "advertise" while the Olympics are going on.

Definitely not something they have to do, but shows a nice balance of caring of other cultures, something we don't always do ourselves.

[DarkFury]

Is this kinda like shooing away all the homeless bums living around an "Olympic Village" so that you don't show your "homeless problem" to the World once all the cameras are on and focused on you?

Kinda sounds like it...

[Jenny]

I wouldn't think so. The food they eat is a cultural thing many places around the world and not something they have to be ashamed of really. The other is done in shame.

[renovation]

i bet theres foods we eat here that upset others around the world.

[johnnymk]

i bet theres foods we eat here that upset others around the world.

[DarkFury]

i bet theres foods we eat here that upset others around the world.

Eating hamburgers probably pisses off people in India, but I don't see them closing any McDonalds when the Olympics come to town.

[mojo]

i've actually wondered why people care what other people eat. it sounds a lot like that arrogant stuff "those people eat monkey brains" or some crap.

last time i checked, someone eating a dog wasn't like they hurt anyone (unless they ate a neighbor's pet)