What do you think of China telling restaraunts to take dog off the menu during the Olympics?

Restaurants and hotels in the Chinese capital have been asked to take dog meat off the menu during Olympics and Paralympics due to concerns that the canine dishes might be offensive to Westerners and animal rights activists.

"Gourmets with a special predilection for dog meat will be disappointed if they come to the Chinese capital in the coming two months," a Beijing Tourism Bureau official said.



The Beijing Catering Trade Association (BETA) has issued a circular forbidding all the 112-designated restaurants from providing dog meat dishes during Olympics and strongly advised other establishments to suspend serving the canine delicacy until September.



"If a customer orders dog meat, the restaurant staff should patiently suggest another entree," Xiong Yumei, the Bureaus Vice-Director, was quoted as saying by official Xinhua news agency. "Conflicts should be avoided." Canine dishes are popular among the Korean community in Beijing, as also in Yunnan and Guizhou restaurants.



Apart from being a delicacy, dog meat is also believed by many Chinese to be an effective element to lower blood pressure. Some also think it boosts "sexual prowess".



Animal rights and environmental activists claim dogs are brutally killed with clubs and knives in China's dog meat industry.What do you think of China telling restaraunts to take dog off the menu during the Olympics?
Personally it's not simply that dog meat is eaten, it's the utterly horrific way that the dogs are treated prior to be being sold. Strung up alive or with a tin can on their muzzle.



Putting a cloak temporarily over the way the dogs are treated by removing dog meat from menus, just puts the issue out of sight for the visitors and athletes. While for the dogs, it stays the same....
Guys...it's just about tourism. If foreigners don't wanna eat dogs, then China wants to get money and not piss them off by not feeding them dogs. I'm sure the dog eating by others and by native chinese ppl are unaffected by the olympics. And as for the moral argument about eating dogs, every country views animals differently Afterall, people in the US eat snakes and lizards, which is pretty odd to other countries too.What do you think of China telling restaraunts to take dog off the menu during the Olympics?
I think it takes a lot of balls for anyone to tell a sovereign country what they can and cannot serve. I also think that the idiots who are happy about this do not realize that it is only during the Olympics, it will go back to normal after wards.

As far as the Olympic athletes go, they have been warned and told repeatedly that they can only eat at the Olympic village to avoid any contaminated foods that may cause them to test positive for steroids. Hope I helped!
How would you feel if the Chinese people came over here for an Olymics and said we should take beef off all our menus? No Big Macs, Whoppers, meatballs, lasagna.....if it has beef, you can't have it? It isnt' right to expect one culture to bow to the traditions of another, especially in their OWN homeland. Would you go to your friend's house and toss out all the chicken she had in the freezer?
i can understand why considering a lot of people have an emotional attachment to dogs (myself included). however, it is a delicacy in that country so they shouldn't be forced to take it off of their menu. people are visiting china so they should be able to take in everything china has to offer.
I don't think they should. It's their culture. The world is a HUGE place. We're just a small percent of it. Yes, us being Westerners, we view it as something immoral or wrong, but then again, look at other cultures. The Jewish and Muslim beliefs, for instance, frown upon eating swine. We still eat pigs here, now don't we? And I'm sure we would be offended if they (which they've already sort of done) came into our country and told us to stop eating it. Yes, dogs are our companions, but who says pigs, sheep, cows, etc... aren't companions either? it's all a matter of perspective.
Actually, I find that very considerate of them to know our customs and try to accommodate and not incite people.



They cruelly kill dogs and eat them....we cruelly kill other animals and eat them. Anyone that tells you the mass production and slaughter of cows, pigs, and chickens is done humanely has fooled themselves.
I think people should realize that not everyone in the world agrees with our (westerners) opinions and feeling about everything and just deal with it. They should not have to take things off the menu or do things differently just because we may not like it. To each their own.
Animal rights and environmental activists claim dogs are brutally killed with clubs and knives in China's dog meat industry.



every animal is mistreated, but then again I love meat, I would so go to chine just to try dog meat.
I would take a look at the official Olympics site, as they have a section devoted specifically to this: http://olympicsgames2008.com/Beijing/Summer_Olympic_Games.html
Good for them for realizing that hey some of us are comfortable to eating Fido. There is enough out there stuff on the menu after that is gone anyways.
I think it is a good idea and should be taken off permanently... Dogs were not meant to be eaten... They are loving companions!
Is this a true article? This is disgusting. I'm glad I'll be watching the games from my comfy coach in the USA with my furry friend -- not eating my furry friend! Yuck.
I don't believe in judging another culture for their beliefs that have been around alot longer than our own country.



Up yours fallon!!! Big words coming from the girl who trashed Egypt as a 3rd world country. Hypocrite!
Eww your not supposed to eat dogs... that is what cows and chickens are for!!! Cats are ok to eat cause no one likes cats :D
I'd eat dog. Just because it's foreign doesn't mean it's bad. Besides, does anyone honestly believe that in the US cows and pigs are serenaded to death or something?
Gives all new meaning to ordering a hot dog, doesn't it?
People eat dogs... TAKE IT OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TAKE IT OFF!!! WHY WOULD U WANNA EAT A DOG?!?!?!?!?!?!
dude why are all the people thumbs downing all the people that say dog eating isnt the worst thing you could ever possibly do? in a lot of countries, everyone has pet chickens that they love and would never eat. over there, canine meat is normal just like chicken meat is here. just because they're cute doesnt mean they don't deserve to die as much as chickens do. chickens are actually more intelligent than you believe, and they can feel pain just as much as dogs can. i bet anything that the fact that dogs are eaten in china has brought a tear to a woman's eye while she was eating chicken, which just isnt right. i boycott kfc cuz they break the chickens' legs for fun(whenever you see that red bubble near the bone, that chicken has gone through more pain than you have in your whole life, you cant even imagine how painful it is, imagine breaking your femur, but getting no morphine and instead getting stuffed into cages and getting hung by your broken leg in a metal shackle), but i still eat other chicken and meat and i'd eat dog if i had an opportunity.
Maybe just because I love dogs as a pet and not a delicacy, makes me just want to vomit. I know that other places around the world would feel the same about what we eat so I'm not dogging anyone....no pun intended. I think it is very considerate of them to do that. I would be deeply moved if I was competing because someone took into consideration others. It could give them stomach problems and could effect there performance at the Olympics. So, ya, I think it is a vary kind move on China's part.
I don't think it's really any diffrent than us eating pigs and cows.