I've gotten that one before. I travel a lot in Asia, and I don't even ask anymore.....
Older article on a new emerging market:
CHINESE FARMERS PROFIT FROM DOG MEAT
Source: Deutsche Presse
Beijing (dpa) - Rising demand for dog meat and oversupply of pork have persuaded a growing number of Chinese farmers and companies to rear dogs for meat, state media reported on Thursday.
Demand for dog was already more than 100,000 tons per year but supply was just 40,000 tons, leaving a "promising future'' with room for the rearing of 10 million more dogs annually, the Beijing based Farmers' Daily said.
In coastal provinces, dog meat prices were up to double pork prices and many people now ate dog all year instead of only in winter, the newspaper said.
In the late 1990s many Chinese pork farmers went bankrupt or changed business after oversupply led to a price slump.
Dog farming, and dog meat restaurants and canning and drying industries had expanded for 10 years, it said.
A "modern'' dog farm in the eastern province of Shandong had 15,000 dogs and produced nearly 100 tons of meat per year to be sold in several areas of mainland China and in Hong Kong.
The model farm, supported by the local government, planned to triple output in the next two years, increasing annual revenue to about 10 million yuan (1.2 million dollars), Farmers' Daily said.
The article urged more farmers to consider dog rearing, which was "easier than raising pigs or chickens,'' saying they could derive extra income from selling the gallbladder, kidney, penis and bones for medicinal use.
Among the best breeds for meat were the Tibetan mastiff, the "Chinese food dog'' and the "pork meat dog.''
To quote Homer Simpson, ".....mmmmmmm!"
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Topic: Fortune Cookie (Read 1134 times)