Dogs Are Friends, Not Food: Olympian's SoKor puppy adoption draws flak from netizens
by Patricia Morales
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| Gus Kenworthy at the dog farm where he rescued his new pet, Beemo. (Photo credits: Ahn Young Joon) |
Four years ago, American skier Gus Kenworthy touched people's hearts when he brought home with him a stray dog
and her four puppies after the Russian Winter Games. Last week together with his boyfriend Matt, the
26-year-old once again rescued a pup, this time from a dog farm in South Korea where the Olympics were held.
Gus then took to social media the unflattering conditions being suffered by the canines in dog farms, further criticizing the dog meat industry of the country by a hashtag, "#DogsAreFriendsNotFood" in an Instagram post. But after posting his sentiments with a series of pictures showing his new pet dog now named Beemo, Kenworthy’s feat was questioned by some netizens, sparking an online debate.
Gus then took to social media the unflattering conditions being suffered by the canines in dog farms, further criticizing the dog meat industry of the country by a hashtag, "#DogsAreFriendsNotFood" in an Instagram post. But after posting his sentiments with a series of pictures showing his new pet dog now named Beemo, Kenworthy’s feat was questioned by some netizens, sparking an online debate.
Was
Gus’ gesture a compassion advocacy, or a show of Western imposition on other
culture?
Kenworthy later tweeted a series of pictures and screenshots of his Instagram post. American writer and journalist Joon Lee replied to Kenworthy on Twitter, pointing out that young South Koreans are against the practice, and that while Asian dog meat industry is a problem, so is the poultry business in the world.
To which Gus replied:
Many others
went against Kenworthy, with many users pointing out that condemnation of animal consumption should not be singled down to just dogs.
However, a
number of people still supported the Olympian and his feat.
It is not
the first time that the South Korean dog-eating culture went under fire. During the 1988 Summer Olympics
in Seoul, South Koreans were urged not to consume dog meat to avoid bad
publicity during the games, with a request to meat shops not to hang butchered
dogs in the windows. The government also closed all restaurants serving
Gaejang-guk, a traditional South Korean dog meat dish, to avoid being frowned
upon by Western visitors.
A
Salon article in 1998 reported that despite its decade-long ban, nearly 20,000
restaurants at the time were still serving dog meat.
After
the country’s successful bid to join the having activists pointing out that as
whale meat consumption declined in Japan after the 1964 Summer Olympics, so should
South Koreans reduce their dog meat consumption.
Today,
a huge number of young South Koreans oppose to their dog-eating tradition, and
the number of canine meat consumers is strongly declining.
Story was okay but it needs better headline and lede.
TumugonBurahinFormat was weird. Di ko makita yung mga naka-embed.