Are you outraged by the Yulin Dog Meat Festival?

It is heartbreaking.

When I decided to become vegetarian, I didn't consider doing it gradually, briefly wished that I would have, but am glad now that I went "cold turkey". It was honestly far easier than I imagined it would be, and the physical and emotional/psychological rewards have been great. Good luck to you on your journey, and let me know if you need any veg recipes!

Thanks for the offer.  I might take you up on it.  Most of the meals I eat are vegetarian.  Unfortunately, I find at times my body just absolutely craves & seems to require, some sort of animal based protein.  I haven't figured out a way to get around it but it is one of the things I am working on at the moment with a nutritionist.

If you haven't yet, try tempeh. I think it's pretty "meaty". I completely understand what you're saying about the craving. Our bodies have a way of telling us when we're not getting enough protein!

Thank you for your reply!

I agree with your perspective about the judgement of the customs of other countries. I find the outrage (of most) in the West at the consumption of dogs a bit hypocritical. While I'd prefer that animals be left off the menu entirely, I think that what's most disturbing is the horrific quality of life that the majority of these animals have prior to ending up on the plate. I don't follow a strictly vegan diet, and my conscience is bothered when I consume dairy; thinking about the conditions those cows are subjected to.

Some food for thought, SavvyAnsley...call it an observation from a different culture and perspective...

The current Western cultural base being removed 'from the land' has altered us as a specie.  I have made my own meat...taken life and prepared it for consumption in a subsistence situation.  Most people have not and are repelled by it in total.  I can understand how that has happened, it is too easy to run to the store and buy those preprepared immaculate steaks or chops or eggs and (and I quote) 'nothing has to die'.

This new cultural base has not served us well at all.  We are more immured, IMHO, in concern for the animals welfare and quality of life prior to death than we are human welfare and quality of life. That bothers me greatly.

We are a mammal, homo erectus, who is designed and meant to be an omnivore...eating both meat and vegetation. And, concurrently to running out of arable space for ourselves and livestock, we are losing the capability to actually feed ourselves as individuals. Our diet of preprepared, chemically and genetically altered/colored/preserved, heavily salted and fat-laden, nitrite and nitrate saturated, MSG amplified food products is killing us, and we know it, and yet do nothing about it.

I wonder how many people would stop eating animals if they did as you have. In some ways it seems cruel, to lovingly raise an animal and then kill and eat it, but at least their entire existence isn't one full of suffering. Humans are quite gifted at kidding ourselves, as you say.

I've yet to encounter a physician who hasn't concurred that a vegetarian lifestyle is healthier than one that includes meat (although some have suggested eating fish). With the knowledge and availability of vegetable proteins, eating animals is no longer necessary to receive optimal nutrition.  I understand what you're saying about there being elements in society who are more concerned about the welfare of animals than they are humans, and I don't disagree that this element exists. I've begged the question of zealous vegans how they can think eating the eggs of chickens who are treated as pets/family is wrong because it's a "baby chicken", yet are completely pro-choice when it comes to humans! It boggles the mind! Including the physical and mental health benefits, and the environmental element, I think that vegetarianism/veganism shows concern for ALL animals, including humans.

I applaud you for your efforts to not support the incredibly cruel mass farming industry. For me, personally, it's as much about the deplorable conditions in which these animals are raised as it is about them ending up on a plate. We all live, we all die, right?

The dogs are treated as horribly as pigs and baby cows that become veal... it's terrible. I think that most people think of dogs (and cats) very differently than they think of cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, etc. Most people aren't moved by the sight of chickens and pigs crammed into cages, being denied access to water, living amongst animals who have perished the way that they are at the sight of dogs being treated that way. Pigs are more sentient and intelligent than dogs, so I just don't understand that.

Thank you for your reply!

Agreed.. but just to say that most people here would be just as horrified to see chickens tied up with their legs behind their back and shoved crammed into cages.. 
That's probably because, we have way better animal health/welfare standards here too.. I don't mean we are perfect, we aren't and still much atrocity goes on.. even at slaughter :( but..we don't have veal calves raised that way here..and we have constant calls for better conditions..and more and more they are looking at say Brexit as a good reason not to allow transport to france where they DO have veal calves and lower animal welfare standards...There are rules about how far you can transport animals.. how long they can spend in a lorry.. 
As i say that's all normal stuff here but if you go organic and free range ... then piggies are kept outside in natural conditions.. etc and we do have better standards esp for piggies even normally.. 
I only buy free range eggs because I cannot stand chickens being kept inside and in poor conditions..etc etc... I also feel that we should value any product that came from a living animal.. it comes at a huge cost.. not in terms of money but because something was killed to get it to us..so while I don't buy meat often when i do then I make sure I don't waste any of it...
Piggies ARE very intelligent.. I totally agree... but to be fair I've never seen them kept or even transported in cages?  I think some countries keep them indoors.. and even here they can be kept in while they have young.. but the standards are better..

I've heard that many other countries have far higher standards for how animals are treated than we do here in the US. The conditions here are pretty horrible for all factory farmed animals, as bad or worse than how the dogs in Asian countries who consume them do. I have read that most of the dogs are actually strays that are picked up from the streets, but I suppose they might actually be breeding dogs for food as we do cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, etc. Most of the meat that Americans buy and eat comes from factory farmed animals, who spend their entire lives in atrocious conditions. Chickens and pigs seem to have it especially bad. It's not uncommon to see pigs and cattle crammed into semi-trailers (lorries to you) in terribly hot weather. The suffering is just unfathomable. I just can't look at it right now, or I'd post links to images. Check out PETA or The Humane Society of the US if you'd like, but beware... the images are heartbreaking.

Thanks again for your reply!

You are not alone.

Thanks, Glis, for your honest reply.

Most of us have varied animal hierarchy. For example, I have no respect whatsoever for the life of mosquitoes.