No Dog Meat for Olympians?
The Beijing City Government Food Safety Office has reportedly stated that dog meat is off the menu during the Olympics. The world’s best athletes are now free from worrying that the meat on their plate may be from someone’s stray or confiscated Fido. All 112 official Olympic restaurants are forbidden from serving any dishes containing any part of a dog during the summer games, which start on August 8. So, swimmers and sprinters, don’t worry if you see a finger-like object floating in your stew—it’s probably just a finger ….
Let’s face it, China may be on top of its game in terms of technological innovations, but when it comes to animal protection, the country is dead last at the bottom of the dog pile.
China severely lacks any form of animal welfare. Our investigations into Chinese fur farms and live markets have shown some of the most horrendous acts of cruelty and conditions for animals raised for human use.
We’re pleased that Beijing has opted out of the dog-slaughtering business—at least for a few weeks and if only for Olympic restaurants. But I have a suspicion it’s not because someone up top realized that dogs feel pain.
A better idea would be to ban all meat from the restaurants. Cows, chickens, pigs, and fish value their lives and don’t want to suffer, and they certainly die as wretchedly as dogs do, even if most people never get to know one in the way that they get to know a dog. Kind of a double standard, don’t you think?
Besides, the Olympic athletes certainly don’t need all the fat and cholesterol loaded in each bite of meat. It would suck to be one lap away from winning gold and suffer a heart attack. Take a bit of advice from Carl Lewis, a legendary Olympian, a vegetarian, and the man who’s broken more records than humanly possible.
The only real breakfast of champions is one that’s meat-free. And you can take that to the winner’s podium.
Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky
