By no means am I advocating for vegetarianism, this piece has nothing to do with whether or not we should or should not eat meat. This piece is about our societies paradoxical views on what animals become our furry companions versus what animals end up on our dinner plates. Specifically, in this article I would like to talk about dogs and pigs.
We in North America do not eat dogs. Dogs are man's best friend. They are smart and full of learning potential. They can lead the blind and pull babies out of burning buildings. They also have approximately the same cognitive functions of a two to two and a half year old human toddler- just with more physical capability. Dogs also can memorize and comprehend about 150 human words (to put this in perspective, how many bark noises can we decipher/ understand?) They are also capable of intentional deception, and understand arithmetic and counting when the number in question is under four.
We should not eat dogs. As a North American I am culturally wired to think that way, and wired to think that South Korea (and other countries) are wrong in doing so. But based on things i have learned about dog cognition, I see the scientific moral argument for why we should not eat dogs that goes beyond the scope of cultural relativism. I do not have the credentials to say what is or what is not fact, as to how we decipher what animals we can eat and what animals we do not. However, beyond our upbringing, I think it has to do with how cognitively aware and self aware we perceive the animal as.
So what if more people knew that pigs had the approximate mental capacity beyond that of a three year old child- clearly exceeding the smarts of 'man's best friend'.
Pigs can be both playful with one another, or deceptive. They also behave in ways that indicate to researchers that they can 'not only anticipate an event, but plan for it.'
Here is a video of piglet's outperforming human kids:
It seems a little messed up when you put it in perspective. If it is immoral to eat dogs, then by our standards, then pigs ought to be off the menu as well.
