You Too Can Eat A Dog and Live
- Category: Peering Eye
- Date 09-12-2007
- 416 views
Bongo never stops to amaze. Last week on Thursday, Nazir Fazal chastised the Chinese for relishing dog meat at the cost of residents’ emotional calm. In his letter titled “Our dogs ending up on dinner tables”, (The Citizen 22nd November 2007, page 9), the guy lamented the endless demise of Dar es Salaam dogs at the hands of the ravenous Chinese wanderers who savour the taste of this domestic carnivorous, christened dog, that is rampant in our city.
In case you missed his piece, Fazal mourned his Tommy – a dog his family raised to turn into the most ballistic pet ever, only to disappear suddenly one fateful afternoon and the suspects were obvious: the Chinese and their mischievous “sales agents”. He accused them of slaughtering, cooking and eating the animals. He thus pleaded, “in view of the gravity of this matter, may I appeal to the Chinese embassy … to urge its citizens to spare our loving dog …! It is high time … the Tanzania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Tanzania Society for Protection and Care of Animals protested …”
Quite interesting, isn’t it? Peering Eye hereby volunteers to respond to Fazal’s epistle to the Chinese government on behalf, but without knowledge and consent, of the Chinese embassy. They must be warned nevertheless against distancing themselves from this daring position, or we shall marshal all the dogs in the neighbourhood to launch an attack in order to defend their endangered selves. Moreover, as the letter was published publicly for all to see, we all reserve rights to respond publicly and take positions on this matter.
In the first place, we have grown up not eating dog meat but we do not know really why. We have always eaten a goat, which is the size and stature of a dog. We have eaten a chicken, which is only two-legged unlike a four-legged dog. We have eaten a fish, which is even un-legged - shockingly! Some guys hereabouts have been known to eat a pig, ugly as it looks. We have eaten all sorts of wild and domestic beasts and birds with confidence that it is the right meat to eat. All this time, nobody has protested the killing of an innocent cow, goat, hen, pig, rabbit, or fish – but here comes an animal ‘humanist’ to contest the killing and eating of a dog. A dog, my foot!
Before we go far, this guy claiming to be sympathetic to animals should be investigated for discrimination; he is favouring some animals and ignoring others when we all know that, like people, all animals are equal. Why should dogs be spared human wrath whereas other harmless animals continue to feed our appetites everyday? For his case to stand, Mr. Fazal is hereby challenged to prove the following: that he does not eat meat at all. If he eats meat, he should state the justification for anyone to eat one animal and refuse to eat another. He should be cross-examined about his source of compassion for dogs and his lack of it for goats and sheep.
The appellant must explain whoever decreed that dogs cannot be eaten while in Dar es Salaam. It is possibly unfortunate that as Peering Eye was growing up, no one introduced him to eating dog meat or he would be happily facing condemnation alongside the Chinese. Are the Chinese forcing anyone to eat dog meat? If they are paying for most of the dogs, are they not supporting the economy? Is the money they are paying for the dogs not used at all to pay some child’s school fees?
It should be remembered that while countless goats and cows etc have been slaughtered and eaten, their populations have only grown. In addition, dogs must not become part of our diplomatic relations whatsoever. Since when did a dog deserve such VIP treatment? Should dogs enjoy diplomatic immunity really? No! Think how they pollute your neighbourhood with noise at night ... let us give dog eaters a helping hand – and eat them too.
By Venansio Ahabwe
Source: Peering Eye, Sunday Citizen