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- TORONTO (CP) -- In South
Korea, as in Vietnam and China, Fido the dog and Felix the cat may be destined
for more than a cushy life as a beloved household pet.
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- Dog meat is a traditional delicacy in many Asian countries,
prized because those who eat it believe they inherit the strength of the
animal.
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- But animal rights activists protesting outside the South
Korean Consulate General on Monday say the animals are cruelly killed to
satisfy superstitious needs.
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- "Dogs are being tortured all night, running up to
the all-day celebration of Bok Days (literally, the hot dog days of summer),"
said Alex Kyrzakos, a volunteer with the Canadian animal rights organizations
Ark II and Freedom for Animals.
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- The groups say they have evidence dogs are slowly strangled
because it is believed the adrenalin released tenderizes the meat and adds
virility to the dish.
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- Cooked slices of dog meat are then served in a soup called
boshintang (healthy soup), flavoured with garlic, spices and sesame, that
is believed to enhance sexual stamina.
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- But Minsook Kim, South Korean vice-consul, says while
Korean people may eat their dogs, they certainly do not torture them.
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- "Eating dog is a kind of tradition. Most Asian countries
have it," said Kim.
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- During the 1988 Olympics, Korea banned boshintang restaurants
out of concern that Western visitors would be horrified at the thought
of eating pets.
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- But in the years that followed, the practice has burgeoned.
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- In 1997, the Seoul Appellate Court overturned a fine
levied against a man caught selling dog meat and, soon after, entrepreneur
Cho Yong-sup started a franchise operation for the country's first chain
of dog meat restaurants.
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- The menu included the traditional stew as well as marinated
sliced dog meat served sauteed or grilled, and parboiled dog meat slices
served with cabbage.
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- Kyrzakos says a worse fate awaits cats and kittens, although
Kim emphatically denies she is right.
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- "Cats are boiled alive," Kyrzakos said. "It
is believed to be a tonic and kittens are believed to be a better tonic."
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- If some reports can be believed, these exotic dishes
barely skim the surface of the non-Western menu.
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- A Reuters news report from Canton some years ago describes
feasts that would turn the stomachs of the MacDonalds generation.
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- Along with snake soup, dog stew and monkey brains, the
adventurous gourmet can feast upon any number of rat specialties.
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- Rat was the specialty of Canton's Jialu Dining Hall when
the 1991 report was published, serving up a kebab of juicy chunks of rat
with green pepper and onion.
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- Also on the menu: braised rat, satay rat, casseroled
rat with mushrooms, black-pepper rat, rat with oyster sauce, fried rat
with raccoon and a clear rat broth.
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- The reporter, Andrew Browne, said braised rat was quite
tasty.
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- "You might gag at first as your teeth puncture the
crispy skin, flooding your mouth with hot rat juice, but the meat is full
of flavor - dark and strong like game, with a pungent after-taste.
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- "Casseroled rat is chewy and sticks to the teeth.
Toothpicks are recommended for stray rodent hairs," he wrote.
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