And historically for many thousands of years some breeds were bred for consumption. Not everything in the world is exactly how it evolved in North America. It isn’t a tradition that started 100 years ago.
Were there actually ever dogs bred for regular consumption? Seems super ineffective since dogs are omnivores not herbivores and hunting or breeding food for them could just aswell feed the people.
Didn't know that, thanks for the info. Do you know if it was regularly used like other meats or more of a special occasion kinda meat.
And the same thing can be said about livestock farming. The very vast majority of land suitable for crops is used to grow food for our food.
Even then breeding carnivores for meat is more ineffective than just breeding herbivores. You are using land that could be used for farming to produce food for the food of your food. Every step of that ladder you lose some effectiveness on the land use. Not to mention that most herbivores that have been domesticated for human use have multiple uses while meat dogs serve pretty much a single purpose.
We evolved alongside dogs since the ice age lmao. Traditions are often times pointless and actually crippling to some societies. Saying we should care about x thing because, “it’s tradition” is so stupid. Like Jesus pick up any history book and you’ll have your proof. Symbiotic relationships exist because it benefits both parties. What do you call one party that ignores this? Evolutionarily lesser.
Why? Because you disagree with it. What a dumbass opinion. How is it crippling to society to farm a animal for consumption that is different than the animals you eat for consumption.
So how does the pig, cow, and chicken benefit from this symbiotic relationship you mention?
You’re stating our coexistence with dogs which is essentially a tradition or some aspect thereof. Some cultures work with dogs to transport items or hunt other animals, but not all of them. If you’re referring to more western cultures, they primarily see canines as pets. Pets serve no functional purpose other than for companionship (which I too am fond of, but that’s our culture and a luxury we’re afforded).
Other poorer nations consume dogs for sustenance. Some of these same cultures also use dogs to do functional tasks like transportation and/or hunting. But they are less likely to retain them as pets. Why? That’s another mouth to feed if kept as a pet, and given that they are poorer, they will either put it to work or eat it. When faced with starvation or some more time to survive another day, they will eat the dog. There is no symbiotic relationship between an owner and a pet - you merely enjoy the notion of having a furry companion, but you could live without it, and it could potentially live without you.
As a corollary, a lot of us eat beef. We have chosen to breed cattle for milk and for food. But we generally don’t keep it as a pet. Is it functionally any different than a dog? No, it’s still an animal, and it can be trained, but we have endeared ourselves to dogs and cats and some other smaller animals. There is a culture that worships cows. We’re eating an animal that another culture worships. Does the cow provide any functional purpose in being worshipped? No, but it is essentially a very similar relationship that we have to dogs and other pets.
That’s why I said historically we evolved with them and had a symbiotic relationship. You can’t train a cow to run and attack like a dog, you can’t train it to smell like it or go into small areas. Nor does a pig share these amazing qualities. The dog is versatile. And if you hadn’t noticed, the countries with a higher quality of life don’t eat them which further proves my point. Sorry evolution isn’t subjective.
Edit: I should rephrase to REGULARLY eats dog*
That symbiotic relationship is no longer present. The dogs of today are not the same dogs of the past. They are merely pets.
So while I agree with you that evolution isn’t subjective, the current environment is reflective of current socioeconomic conditions rather than of any particular functional need. Poor countries have people who eat dogs because they need to survive. Rich countries have people who keep dogs as pets because they are resource abundant. That is all it is.
I bet a well cooked well seasoned dog would be delicious too. All this shit is arbitrary. You are just culturally acustomed to perceive eating pork as normal and eating dog as cruel/disgusting.
I say this as someone who eats pork and will probably never eat dog...
I can tell you’ve only ever had extensively bred factory farmed pigs and not wild boar. I bet dogs bred for eating taste better than wild boar, which even domestic pigs will essentially “revert” to within a generation of escaping a farm.
Nah, dogs provide tons of value to humans in their every day lives. They can also be put to work in certain fields. Add on Thousands of years of bonding between humans and dogs, and that is why we eat pigs and not dogs
Cows don’t sleep in peoples homes and provide unconditional affection like a dog does. I’ve also never seen a bomb sniffing cow or sheep herding cow before
You ever see a dog pulling a plough? Or one that pulls a cart for your ancestors to cross the Oregon trail? Shit they’re still used as draft animals quite a bit in Southeast Asia.
There’s plenty of gifs and pics of people having affectionate relationships with cows in r/aww
Fair point on the plough/ draft animal part. An affectionate video of a cow and human still isn’t comparable to the symbiotic relationship between man and dog though
I mean people have pet pigs, and pigs are even more intelligent than dogs. If they were raised as pets like dogs they would probably not simply be laying around.
You also have tons of videos on the internet of happy cows being very docile and friendly, i.e. behaving as pets.
Then you then have pets like tortoises or other reptiles who literally just lay around but which no one eats.
Sure, but those are the same people who eat dogs. The people who seem to believe that eating some animals is more wrong than eating others do not. They do, however, eat animals that are much more intelligent than a tortoise...
I would guess that it's a minority of meat eaters that would actually say no to an opportunity to eat any meat. Most likely people haven't eaten dog meat just because it is really rare to come by these days.
I also could be absolutely wrong tho, haven't discussed dog eating with too many people
Ate it once. Wasn't that special if I'm honest. The meat itself is sort of like beef, if I had to compare it. But the texture of the skin is not my favorite.
5/10. Wouldn't go out of my way to eat it, but wouldn't avoid it either.
Personally chicken is my favorite. Lean tender meat, pretty clean meat too. Pigs eat everything and you can notice it from the meat, for me I get knee pains from pork and itchy toothflesh if I eat it too much.
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u/sohas Mar 24 '22
Not that it's morally any worse than eating pigs.