Human Hypocrisy- Updated

Humans. Of all possible traits they could ever express, hypocrisy had to be one of them. We are all hypocrites. I'm one, you're another, we all are; we’re just too afraid to admit it. We are SO hypocritical that we accuse others of being hypocrites whereas we can’t see the hypocrisy that we ourselves exhibit in one way or the other.

About two years ago the Lychee and Dog Meat Festival, commonly referred to as Yulin Dog Meat Festival triggered a lot of controversy. It is an annual festival held in Yulin, Guangxi, China, during the summer solstice. As the name suggests, the festival goers eat dog meat. A few years ago almost 15000 dogs were consumed during the ten days of festivities.

I too do not support this festival, but not for the reasons one might naturally assume.

I support the restriction of this festival because it has been strongly accused of being unhygienic and was a potential health hazard. Many of the dogs even appear to be pets, although that was never proved. In 2017 a group of protesters halted a transportation truck and it was discovered that many of the dogs transported were stolen and almost 40% of them had infectious diseases.

       

photo-reuters

Many people are trying to get this festival banned, stating these discoveries as reasons. However, the truth is that any who is trying to get the festival banned is doing this out of pure hypocrisy stemmed from their love towards “man’s best friend”. I am a dog owner and an ardent dog lover as well. However I must swallow my pride and accept the fact that the only reason I find this festival revolting is because of my love towards dogs.

The easiest way to explain my point is by drawing a comparison to another animal that was banned for human consumption- the cow. The right wing government of India has tried to ban the sale of beef numerous times and in many states cow meat is illegal. Whatever long list of reasons they might give, the supporters of this party made it clear why beef eaters are being attacked. Cows are considered sacred to Hindus and are to be treated as mothers. This has nothing to do with animal welfare, it is just cow welfare.   

This move was protested by many people, crying intolerance and defending their right to partake in their culture of beef consumption. However the same people had massive petitions to ban the Yulin festival because it feeds off of their favourite pet. One would have to be very short-sighted to not notice the similarities between the cases and realise how different the general responses have been. Most view dogs as a companion animal and thus they find this festival disgusting. There shouldn’t be any moral right or wrong when it comes to people eating habits. Arguing that it should be banned is basically showing the same cultural intolerance that we have been protesting for years.

With that in mind, I do not wish for this festival to be banned, as that is a selfish thing to do. However, proper steps must be taken to ensure that the necessary health precautions are taken and no pets should be stolen for this matter. I doubt everyone will agree with me, but in order to move forward as a society, we must learn to look at things from other’s perspective. Only then can we be a tolerant and peaceful world.