On the question of humanity in national cuisine, how are we to regard the tendency to boil & roast dogs & cats alive, a practice based on the theory that the release of adrenaline produced by their death agonies enhances the flavor of the meat?

There are links & videos that show this practice (though I admit I lack the stomach to research them too closely).

My wife & I recently adopted two beautiful dogs that were rescued from the Chinese dog meat trade, & I contribute—& urge others to—to the Soi Dog Foundation in Phuket, Thailand that also rescues dogs from the meat trade.

I want to be clear, China & SE Asia have experienced some of the most horrific famines in recent history. Keeping pets, or even working animals, during a famine is impossible. Also, living in a country where hundreds of thousands of animals are put down annually simply because they have no home leaves one little space to condemn the dog & cat meat trade per se.

I understand the People's Republic has also formally outlawed the dog meat trade as of five or six years ago. So, progress. During the time I spent in Beijing, just before the Olympics, I saw pet dogs & cats become more common. Change is clearly happening.

But, returning to my original point, we can & must condemn on humanitarian grounds the needless torture of animals that evolved at the hand of humans to be companions, not livestock & certainly not to be cooked alive.

Otherwise, excellent article, with some valuable insight & information.