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Updated Thursday, April 17, 2008 0:00 am TWN, The China Post news staff

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Every dog has its day?

Last week, Korean animal rights groups asked their Taiwan counterparts and Taiwan lawmakers to help stop the South Korean government from amending a law to classify dogs as livestock for consumption. Eating dogs is a time-honored tradition in Korea and, much like the controversial consumption of whale meat in Japan, local connoisseurs are resisting outside pressure; claiming the practice is a cultural one and no different from Americans eating cows, the French eating snails or the many animals Chinese people ingest. According to Korean animal rights group Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth — or CARE — about 2 million dogs are consumed in South Korea every year.

While dogs are undoubtedly still being eaten by a very small minority of people in Taiwan, this country has banned turning “man’s best friend” into meat. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Hsing-nan, who played an instrumental role in the passage of legislation to outlaw the killing of dogs for food and the sale of dog meat in Taiwan, told the press that there is no need today for dog meat to be used as food.

The vast majority of Taiwanese most likely agree with Legislator Wang. Some in Taiwan no doubt felt a degree of outrage at our Korean neighbors for what many consider to be an unsavory culinary tradition. But if passion is laid aside and logic employed, the beam in our own eyes becomes apparent. By some estimates, Taiwan has 500,000 stray dogs.

Other estimates put the number as high as two million. In truth, no one really knows how many homeless canines roam the streets of this island, but suffice it to say: it’s a lot. Many of these dogs are diseased and live pitiful lives.

Hardly a week goes by without a news story of a stray dog being tortured by having rubber bands tied around their mouths, being set aflame, or simply kicked or thrown around. Last month a video surfaced of young members of Taiwan’s military peeling the skin of a puppy before “executing” it by hanging. Other horrific tales include puppies being used as balls for baseball practice.

Given the amount of abuse many a stray dog in Taiwan is subjected to, doesn’t the Korean practice of simply killing and eating dogs seem kinder?

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