Hunger and Dogs

So for my Honors English 1101 class, I had to come up with a proposal argument. It took me a really long time to think up an idea... But I did. I had to do an in-class presentation too. Happily for me, my presentation got a 95 and my paper got a 98! :D

Here is my paper:

Hunger and Dogs: What Could These Two Things Have in Common?

            Imagine a family dinner: everyone is sitting around the table, laughing and talking. Mom comes in, carrying a steaming pot. She lovingly ladles soup into the bowls placed in front of everyone as the tantalizing smells waft through the air. Everyone proclaims the soup a success, and when asked the secret of the delightful meal, she laughs and replies, “Isn’t it delightful? It’s a new recipe. I like to call it Dog Soup.” Cue the screeching tires. Dog soup? Made from… dogs? Why would one eat dog when one can eat beef? Dog meat is gross, isn’t it? Many people seem to think so. However, what if the family aforementioned had nothing else to eat and dog was the most inexpensive option? What if the dog served to them was a canine from an animal shelter that was going to be euthanized anyway and now had a purpose after death? What if this situation could reduce crowding in animal shelters while saving nearly $1 billion dollars a year? I want to propose that we take healthy dogs that get euthanized every year and offer them at extremely discounted prices to Americans who are on the edge of starvation.

            When one mentions starvation, the first thing that pops into people’s minds is the stirring image of a hungry African child. A touching image, yet somehow too distant from reality. “Hunger isn’t a problem in America,” some say. “Not with a Starbucks on every corner, anyway.” In a survey I conducted on SurveyMonkey, I asked participants how many Americans they thought were affected by hunger every year. 32.9% guessed that 1-5 million people were affected, followed by 27% guessing that 10-15 million people were affected. The other 60% guessed numbers in between these two choices. According to a report done by the United States Department of Agriculture, nearly 17.6 million families were food instable in 2012. Food instability is defined as “households (those with low and very low food security) [that] had difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources... [and] the food intake of some household members was reduced and normal eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year due to limited resources” (Coleman-Jensen, Nord, and Singh 7). My survey suggests that Americans drastically underestimate the plight of their fellow countrymen. America is the land of the free, why would anyone be hungry? Yet, every year, 1 in every 6 people go hungry. Another surprising fact might be that malnutrition caused by hunger in America kills more people annually than heart disease, car crashes, and influenza, according to the National Vital Statistics Report from 2009 (Heron 6). Hunger is an issue in America; why isn’t anyone doing anything about it? Why are people so focused on places like Ethiopia and Uganda when there is a family somewhere in their neighborhood who cannot afford dinner?

            Animal shelters can either have a positive or negative connotation depending on one’s past experiences with them. My family has adopted cats and a dog from our shelter, yet an unfortunate mistake led to my childhood Labrador being euthanized at a shelter due to an ugly run-in with a neighbor. Regardless of one’s prior experiences, nearly everyone knows that animal shelters are generally over-crowded or full. People give up their dogs because they are too expensive to keep up with or because they are not properly educated about pet ownership. This adds up to 6-8 million dogs ending up in animal shelters every year with half of them being euthanized – which is equivalent to nearly 10,000 dogs dying daily. What is even sadder is that 90% of these dogs are healthy and free of disease (“Animal Overpopulation”)! Animal enthusiasts claim that sterilization is the best solution to this problem, but spaying and neutering is expensive. It is not a very practical solution to the problem. What’s more, American taxpayers actually spend $2 billion annually to impound, euthanize, and dispose of dogs (“Animal Welfare”)! That is a large sum of money going towards the senseless killing of dogs and I personally think that it is a waste. I doubt that many taxpayers would be happy to discover that their taxes go towards euthanizing dogs instead of ways to make the community better.

            If one asked a random American what the purpose of a dog was, there is a very strong chance they would reply, “A dog is man’s best friend.” People in America tend to think of a dog as nothing more than a cuddle buddy or the child they never had. While it is true that there are some dogs that are bred solely for the sake of companionship, in reality, these are outnumbered by dogs who serve higher purposes. Dogs are used for herding sheep, assistants to the blind, guard dogs, police/military aides, sled pullers, hunting, research, and food. “Food? Nobody eats dog anymore,” one might protest. Surprisingly, quite a few countries still eat dog meat in the 21^st century. These include, but are not limited to: South Korea (“Ending the Dog Meat Trade”), India (“Dog Meat”), Nigeria, Germany, Japan, Vietnam (Simoons 210), New Zealand (Fox), and various other countries. In fact, South Korea is fond of a soup made from dog meat known as “Body nourishing soup”. Americans may struggle with the idea of eating dog because they think that eating dog would make them sick or that it is not very healthy, when in fact dogs (when they are cooked properly and are free from rabies) are bacteria-free and have the same nutritional value as a chicken. Dog meat actually contains slightly more vitamin C and iron than chicken (Yong-Guen). Other than one’s own bias, there does not seem to be a big problem with eating dog.

            Hunger and overcrowded shelters; is there a common denominator that can act as a solution? I believe there can be. What if we took healthy dogs that get euthanized every year and offered them at extremely discounted prices to Americans who are on the edge of starvation? First, I am not suggesting that one should build puppy mills to breed dogs for food or to go into people’s homes and take their precious pets for food. I am suggesting that one takes dogs that the 90% that are healthy and going to die anyway in animal shelters and that, instead of incinerating them and throwing their ashes in the local dump, one uses the dog for food for people who cannot afford beef, pork, or chicken and who are going hungry in order to feed their children.

                     From what I can tell, nothing like this has ever been attempted, so how would this work? Well, the dog would have to be checked over by a vet to make sure that the dog is free from harmful diseases and is generally healthy. Once approved, the dog would then be taken to a processing place. Riverside Meats and Processing in Minnesota informed me that they estimate it would cost $30-50 to slaughter, cut, process, and package a dog. This would amount to approximately $200 million a year to process the 3-4 million dogs being euthanized in animal shelters. The meat would be clearly marked as “dog meat” so that if consumers have an issue with buying dog meat, they would not get it confused with other meat goods. The processed meat would then be distributed to retailers willing to sell dog meat. This could include places like Walmart, Food Depot, or a soup kitchen like Stone Soup in Atlanta, Georgia. Retailers might have to apply for a special license to distribute/serve dog meat to ensure that the use of dog is not exploited. Buyers of dog meat would have to use WIC or SNAP to purchase dog meat in order to make sure that they are truly in need of discounted meat. Soup kitchens would be able to buy the meat in bulk and add it to the menu of the day. Rough estimates indicate that this would save taxpayers around $1.2 billion annually, with shipping and vet fees included. It would not be a difficult process and one would end up with multiple benefits in the end.

            Would real people accept this idea? My SurveyMonkey survey indicates that the answer is yes; 59% of the respondents found the idea acceptable with no moral implications. The other 41% had quite a few objections to my idea. One objector insisted that dogs that are euthanized are not healthy enough for human consumption. As long as one removes the intestines and organs of the dog and thoroughly cooks it (like fish), there is no need to worry about risk to human health. Another respondent fumed that he would never eat his pet. Fortunately, I am not suggesting that pets are to be eaten, for I would never eat my pet dog. I am suggesting that one would use dogs that are going to be put down regardless. Someone else stated that the vaccines in dog meat would make him ill. I have done as much research as possible on this topic and, as far as I can tell, the consumption of vaccines will not harm the consumer. Another asked why she should eat dog meat when there are other alternatives. My solution would provide food-instable families with an extremely discounted price on dog meat, which would be far more affordable than beef, chicken, fish, or pork. My alternative would put food on the table for those who cannot spend $6+ on two pounds of beef for their family of seven. Finally, one of my responders insisted that dogs are too cute and intelligent to eat. If I showed her a picture of a Mexican Hairless Chihuahua, would she change her mind? If intelligence is a factor, then why do Americans eat pigs? Pigs are considered to be as intelligent as dogs and feel the same amount of pain; what is the difference? Besides, wouldn’t it be nice to know that one’s tax dollars are going towards feeding the hungry instead of the senseless killing of dogs?

            It is difficult to change a culture’s way of thinking. In America, the thought of eating dogs goes against everything in a culture where people put clothes on their animals and allow them to eat at the table. Yet, dogs are not just companions and can be used for food. In a country where 17.6 million people go hungry annually, I am certain that at least some of them would be very grateful to be able to buy some nutritionally-beneficial meat for their families, especially if the meat being used was going to be wasted otherwise. This solution would not only benefit the hungry, it would free up space in animal shelters and save Americans a lot of money annually. Not only could one feed the poor, one could also help one’s neighbor. Why not try to change the world in one’s own backyard?

Bibliography:

“Animal Overpopulation.” Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society. Oxfordpets.com. n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.

“Animal Welfare.” Ryan-Newman Foundation. Ryannewmanfoundation.org. n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.

Coleman-Jensen, Alisha, Mark Nord, and Anita Singh. Household Food Security in the United States in 2012. ERR-155, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, September 2013.

“Dog meat, a delicacy in Mizoram.” The Hindu. Hindu.com. n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.

“Ending the Dog Meat Trade.” WSPA. Wspa-international.org. n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.

Fox, Michael. “In defence of dog eating.” Stuff.co.nz. Stuff.co.nz, 19 Aug. 2009. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.

Heron, Melanie. “Deaths: Leading Causes for 2009.” National Vital Statistics Reports 61.7 (2012): 6-7. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.

Simoons, Frederick. Eat Not This Flesh: Food avoidances from prehistory to the present. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1994. Print.

Yong-Geun, Ann. "Dog Meat Foods in Korea.” Korean Journal of Food and Nutrition 12.4 (1999). Web. 24 Nov. 2013.

Ok. Don't freak out. I promise I love animals. But if you have any questions, leave a comment and I'll be happy to answer them :)