2024-09-18 05:49:26
Senegalese and Vietnamese have been accused in the past, that they indulged in the unusual culinary passion
Quite unexpectedly, Donald Trump raised a scandalous topic with which we have had extensive experience in the past.
“They eat dogs in Springfield!” The former US president said this during a campaign debate, referring to a city in Ohio that is barely coping with the influx of immigrants from Haiti.
“They’re eating the cats. They’re eating … the pets of the people who live there. And it’s happening in our country and it’s a shame,” the eccentric Republican continued with the accusations.
The outstanding moment his speech appeared in prime time, probably
has puzzled most
of 67 million people,
who followed Trump’s clash with Vice President Kamala Harris with interest. For her part, the Democratic nominee called Trump “extreme” and laughed after his comment, and debate moderators pointed out that city officials dismissed his claims as false.
However, the rumor, which has been criticized as racist, is already thriving in right-wing corners of the internet and is being spread by people close to Trump, including his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. The scandalous statement also became a popular political meme that spread around the world.
Where do these accusations come from?
According to the BBC, at a Springfield City Commission meeting on August 27, a local resident who describes himself as a social media influencer made a speech against Haitian immigrants. In it, he listed a long list of grievances, including that they slaughter park ducks for food, and accused city officials of being paid to bring in immigrants. Of course, he did not provide evidence for his claims. It turns out that, at least for Trump, such a warning is nothing new. During his presidential term in December 2018, it was he who signed the Dog and Cat Meat Trade Ban Act. Interestingly, they were previously legal in 44 states. And more recently, in July 2023, Vern Buchanan and Jared Moskowitz, Republican and Democratic congressmen respectively, introduced
resolution prohibiting
the canine and the feline
meat worldwide
From this perspective, it is interesting to see if there is any truth to Trump’s campaign accusation after all.
The use of domestic animals such as dogs and cats for food, of course, sounds quite unacceptable to Americans, as well as to a large part of Christian countries, including Bulgaria, but historically the consumption of dog meat has been recorded in many parts of the world. Even currently the largest countries by population –
India and China, allow
use and trade
with similar meat. Dog meat is still consumed, but to a limited extent, in Korea, Indonesia, Nigeria, Vietnam and even Switzerland.
The truth is that some cultures consider it part of their traditional, ritualistic or everyday cuisine, and for other cultures it is a taboo subject. Something more. Two of the world’s religions have a negative attitude towards such food.
According to kashrut, the Jewish dietary law, it is forbidden to eat the meat of land mammals that do not survive and have cloven hooves, which includes dogs. Most Islamic dietary laws also prohibit the use of canine or other carnivore meat. Only in the school of Maliki (one of the four main schools of Islamic jurisprudence – n.b.) is makruh (actions that are not forbidden but are undesirable – n.b.).
Historically, Roman historians such as Ovid, Plutarch, and Pliny describe the sacrifice of puppies (catulina), whose meat was then cooked and consumed. Based on their research, modern archaeologists believe that in our lands the Thracians, probably ritually, also resorted to this non-traditional food.
In the Aztec Empire in America, a breed of Mexican hairless dogs were bred for similar purposes. For example, Hernán Cortés claimed in a letter that when he arrived in Tenochtitlan in 1519, he saw how
“they breed for
eating small
neutered dogs”,
which are also among the goods sold in the city markets. No other source confirms this practice, but this type of dog, called “xoloitzquintli,” was often depicted on pre-Columbian Mexican pottery.
Man’s best friend was also a favorite delicacy in Tahiti, Hawaii and other Polynesian islands. At the time of the first contact of the Tahitians with Europeans in 1769, James Cook wrote in his diary, “few of us will agree, but one of the things which enables the dogs of the South Sea to rank with the English lambs is that they eat entirely vegetables”.
But as a rule, even in cultures where such a menu was not adopted, in extreme situations, mass starvation or during war, numerous precedents are recorded.
In our country in the past too
there have been similar scandals
with non-traditional pet consumption. Thus, for example, at the end of the First World War, Bulgaria came under consensual occupation. Apparently with the aim of humiliating us even more, the French gen. Louis Franchet d’Esperet brought soldiers from the 17th colonial division into Sofia. In our country they are known as “Senegalese”, although they are from different French colonies in Africa.
In fact, most Bulgarians saw black people for the first time precisely on the war fronts, and since then, for a long time in the Bulgarian language, “Senegalese” has been synonymous with black.
During the occupation, the situation in Sofia was tragic – not only the locals were starving, but also thousands of refugees from different parts of the country were struggling to survive. Of course, none of them thought of using meat from the many dogs and cats on the streets. But oh, horror!, to the disgust of the people of the capital, a rumor suddenly spreads that this unused resource is being taken advantage of by the Africans of the occupying army. In those years hundreds of spicy stories are told how
the Senegalese
with “dressed up”
not only with stray animals, but also with those that have had owners. But such cases are not seriously documented, and from the distance of time it is difficult to judge how far they correspond to the truth.
It is an indisputable fact, however, that a few decades before these events, none other than the French themselves, in besieged Paris during the Franco-Prussian War, consumed a huge number of dogs and cats. Some of these culinary adventures have even become part of the city’s mythology.
Nathan Shepard, an American who kept a diary during the siege of the French capital, wrote that he attended a dinner consisting of delicacies such as “Braised Cat with Mushrooms”.
“It would be difficult to eat in a restaurant in Paris now without being served one of these animals,” he jokingly concludes. Adolphe Michel, editor of Le Siecle, attended a dinner where “dog cutlets” and “dog liver brochettes” appeared on the menu.
“The dog cutlets were over-marinated,” he concludes, “but the brochettes were tender and thoroughly enjoyable.” A cat was also served; her white flesh had a pleasant appearance.”
Although forgotten, these nightmares at some point in the 1970s and 1980s under socialism were revived.
The news that thousands of “trainees” who came after the war from distant Vietnam feasted on stray dogs and cats stressed many of our people to a great extent. Some swear that around the Vietnamese dormitories in the gh.k. “Krasna Polyana” in the capital during this period
were all gone
stray animals…
But it is really difficult to establish what quantities of these unusual meats were consumed by guest workers in our country.
Otherwise, there is undoubtedly such a tradition in the Asian country. About 5 million dogs are slaughtered in Vietnam every year, making the country second
largest user
of dogs in the world
after China. The consumption has been criticized by many in Vietnam and around the world, as most of the four-legged animals are pets, stolen and brutally killed, usually by whipping, stabbing, burning alive or impaling. Dog meat is particularly popular in the urban areas of the north and can be found in specialty restaurants. In practice, there are no serious bans on its consumption there, although in 2018 the authorities in the city of Hanoi called on citizens to stop eating dog and cat meat, denouncing the cruel methods and the diseases that this practice spreads, including rabies and leptospirosis . But according to Western observers, the main reason for this appears to be the fear that the practice of consuming dogs and cats, most of which are stolen pets, could tarnish the city’s image as
“civilized
and modern chair”
The truth is that not only there, but also in many countries of the Far East, the consumption of dog meat is completely normal. It is thus legal in mainland China, with the exception of the city of Shenzhen, and although the industrial slaughter and sale of dogs was banned due to the pandemic in 2020, it is estimated that between 10 and 20 million four-legged animals fall victim to this every year in China. gastronomic passion.
Also recently, Daily NK reported that the North Korean government has included dog meat in its list of one hundred fixed prices, setting it at 500 won per kilogram. Pet meat is also a popular delicacy in Cambodia, parts of the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as East Timor.
In general, according to data from 2014, it is estimated that in the world
27 million dogs
eaten every year
So, no matter how abhorrent they may be to some cultures, the practices that the former American president has sounded the alarm about should no longer surprise anyone. Nor should there be a scandal, unless, of course, we are talking about pets illegally taken from their owners.
And one more thing. The charge against immigrants that they eat pets was an American urban legend years before Donald Trump spread the rumor about Haitians in Ohio, and some may not take it very seriously. The bad thing is that as a result of his speech there have been several cases of bomb threats in Springfield against immigrants from other countries, which is already a real problem.