A recent article on the Wall Street Journal provides an overview of the conflict in Asian countries between changing attitudes and dog meat industries. The article can be read here: "Mercy in a Man-Eat-Dog World"

The main countries mentioned that still have thriving dog meat industries are China, Vietnam and, unfortunately, Korea. But the article's focus is on Thailand because while Thais are not dog eaters, the smuggling of dogs from Thailand to Vietnam is big business.

Of interest with regard to Korea in the article is the following statement:

Wealthy South Korea has an active dog-eating lobby, whose members point out that the dogs raised for meat on dog farms are a different breed than those raised to be household pets.

"People rely on this trade for their livelihood," says Sawong De-chalert, a retired English teacher in Sakon Nakhon who represents local traders who are lobbying the government to legalize the dog-meat trade.

Then there is the issue of what anthropologists call cultural relativism. Humans in one part of the world often consume things, from grubs to pigs, that others find taboo or simply inedible. Just try explaining the Scottish art of deep-frying pizzas to an Italian.

Here we see the same old silly arguments. First, the so-called special breed of dogs on dog farms are still just dogs like any other dog. It is irrelevant and misleading to say they are somehow different to household pets. In addition, some abandoned or sold household pets also end up as dog meat. In Korea's dog meat industry, all kinds of dogs can be found on dog farms and all kinds of dogs are killed for dog meat.

As for livelihood, dog farmers need to get into another business. What people don't realize is that gangsters sometimes invest in dog farms, so let's not start feeling sorry for the poor humble farmer. Many dog farms are just side-line operations, set up cheaply and run by people who don't care about animal welfare and who want to fatten their wallets.

Invariably, dog meat supporters will bring out the "cultural relativism" argument. Here is yet another irrelevant argument, because cruelty is wrong regardless of why or where it occurs. No tradition can justify cruelty. The "cultural relativism" argument doesn't hold up once you beginning looking behind the scenes. Then it's not so black and white, as dog meat proponents try to assert.

It's time for "wealthy South Korea" to abandon an old tradition that is unnecessary and that Koreans increasingly don't want to see in their society.