Yulin Makes Hypocritical Meat-eater Turn Vegetarian

Tomonica is a hypocritical meat-eater. Yet she chose vegetarianism after the Yulin dog festival.

A woman on her moped transports more than 10 dogs, which had just been slaughtered, to her market shop for sale. (Photo: AP)

I am a dog person. I have had the most beautiful, loving, caring and adorable dogs in my life and that’s why I am enraged about Yulin and China as a whole. I always knew that dog meat is common on menus there. My colleagues have told me all about it. What I didn’t know until now was about the “festival” and I never had seen pictures of dog bodies piled up in butcher shops before. Worse, for the first time I saw dogs stuffed in cages and the sadness in their eyes took my anger to a whole new level.

Dogs in a cage look at passers-by at Yulin Big Market. (Photo: AP)

Internal Conflict of A Carnivore Who’s Against Yulin

So, here’s something I wish to debate on.

Fellow non-vegetarians, please please don’t be mad at me for saying what I’m about to say: Every time I signed a petition against Yulin there has been a big question in my head regarding my own preference for meat. I eat every animal that is accepted as food in India. Chicken, quail, turkey, mutton, beef (rarely) seafood etc. I’ve been to Mosque Road in Bangalore during Ramadan and though I never liked the sight of heaps of meat and overall lack of hygiene, my conscience questions me – why is Mosque Road okay and Yulin not?

Caged dogs sit inside a cafe on the road side, waiting to be transferred to a slaughterhouse in a narrow alley. (Photo: AP)

Is Killing Cattle Any Better than Killing Dogs for Meat?

I also ask myself:  Why is it fair to kill one animal and protest the killing of another? My only answer is, “Mosque road is NOT serving crispy dog. Nobody should hurt a dog!” Still, questions continue to crop up: Why don’t meat shops shock me the way pictures of the dead dogs do? Will I ever sign a petition against sale of cattle and poultry in India? My answer is: No.

But I would sign petitions for proper transport of chicken and livestock and for keeping animals in separate rooms and out of sight from dead ones (and my butcher will vouch for me because we have had several arguments regarding this). When state governments banned beef in India, I said people in this country have the right to eat what they want. However, I didn’t say that to China and instead, demanded a ban.

Slaughtered canines are hung up for sale in Dong Kou market, as a dog looks on. (Photo: AP)

Why the Hypocrisy?

So here’s my conclusion on this topic. We are programmed to accept our culture and other cultures PROVIDED they match our ethics. That’s why we will never accept China’s eat-everything-that-moves (including-dogs) food culture.

People play games while eating dog meat at a restaurant during the Yulin festival. (Photo: AP)

Dog = Nutritious Food in China

One one hand, it’s okay for us to celebrate Thanksgiving by serving up thousands of turkey and turn all kind of cattle into kebabs to feed 20,000 carnivores at Mosque Road for 30 days BUT no 10-day DOG eating festival please!

If I had to be true to myself, without being partial to dogs, I believe I’m being unfair to all the animals I eat when I support one animal over the others. It’s hypocrisy, even if you say the world sees sheep as food and dogs as pets. The fact is somewhere, in crazy China town, dog = nutritious food.

Tomonica’s 9-year old Lhasa Apso, Miss looking fresh after a Summer haircut.

Ending the Hypocrisy

I wonder if this kind of conflict has occurred to non-vegetarians who protested against Yulin. We’ve seen butcher shops and the scene is no different from Yulin.

I’m so conflicted that I quit eating meat a few days ago and I doubt I’ll return to it anytime soon.

(Tomonica Chandran just returned to blogging and loves it. She is a former journo by choice and corporate communications professional by chance. When not writing, she is either planning short vacations or playing ancient games like Duck Hunt.)