Saturday, July 5, 2008

Dog Meat Flavor of the Month for Some Young Cambodians: The Older Generation Shudders

By Soy Sophea

A growing number of Cambodians are starting to develop a taste for Man’s Best Friend, though this dish has never formed a part of the traditional Khmer dinner table.

“Dog meat tastes delicious,” said Sok Nika, a 29-year-old consumer who buys the meat from a specialist butcher, located on the corner of the roads 205 and 374, about 300 meters from a major Phnom Penh hotel. “We are regular customers. I come to have dog meat here with a friend of mine,” said Nika “and we just can’t get enough of the stuff. We love it.”

The tall, sleek, well padded young gentleman added that he recommended the place to all, as it made excellent value for money. Yet even his high society friends did not look down on the dog shops as they too had become dog-meat aficionados.

Tes Bunrith, 22, a construction worker also enjoys eating dog meat. According to him, it makes a tasty alternative to pricey beef dishes and when he visits Phnom Penh’s beer gardens, he is able to keep his friends well fed for hours with doggie dishes.

He said he couldn’t care less for the opinions of those who criticized consumers of the flesh of dogs. He saw the issue in terms of rights and as there is no law prohibiting consumption, he was going to exercise those rights. “I have heard it said that dogs are friendly and useful to man and that those who eat them are behaving immorally. Whatever!”

A waiter who works at a shop selling dog meat said in anonymity that his shop serves grilled, fried, boiled or curried puppies. Over the past three years, on an average day, we get through nearly 20 kilograms of dog. That boils down to around five units per day. We have some regular customers and they would not be pleased if they had to go without.

He added that grilled dog meat sells for 15,000 riel per kilogram. He added that the dogs were taken from Kampong Chhnang, Kandal, Takeo, Kampot and Battambang provinces. “We serve dog meat, so the dogs can come from Sirius as far as we’re concerned,” he said. “We care about profit and customer satisfaction.”

An angry dog owner, San Vicheth, who has lost ten of his pets so far to the trade, urged all those who eat dog meat to give up.

“They protect our homes and they are honest and friendly to us. In return, we eat them. That is just wrong on so many levels.” Vicheth said. “I am not a man given to violent passions, but I hate those who killed my dogs. They were German Shepard dogs, a beautiful but expensive breed.”

Meach Ponn, Advisor to the Khmer Traditional Council, said in general, Cambodian people have never eaten dog meat and when they have it was a sign that all was not well.

Ponn remembered a time during the Pol Pot regime, when his friends invited him to eat dog meat, but he preferred to starve, rather than to eat dog meat.

“In my life I have never eaten any dog meat although I keep a couple of dogs at home. They are such useful animals for looking after livestock and hunting. Eating dog meat? No, not for me, thanks.”

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