 When most people think of dogs they think of a cute companion who has their very own personality. Many people treat their dog like their own family member. Some even prefer dogs over humans. They give company to the lonely and bring happiness to the depressed. Dogs are descendants from wolves. First said to be domesticated between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago. In western culture dogs are generally considered companions only. But as you also may know, in many cultures, although a taboo, dogs are actually eaten. With around 30 million dogs slaughtered for meat worldwide annually, places including South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Nigeria, Indonesia, India and Switzerland have all been known to take part in dog meat consumption. The most well-known place with the eating of dog and even cat flesh takes place is in China for the annual Yulun Lachian Dog Meat Festival, a 10-day event where over 10,000 dogs are eaten. The Chinese tradition of eating dog meat dates back around 500 years. About 10 million dogs are consumed in the country each year, especially during cold winter months. Some people believe dog meat can cure various ailments or impart beneficial warm energy. Others are turning to dog meat as a source of cheap protein. In Indonesia, for instance, dog meat is often cheaper than beef or chicken, making it more accessible. In Nigeria, dog meat is often marketed as a cure for malaria and as a repellent against witchcraft. In Vietnamese culture dog meat is believed to bring good fortune. Dog meat traders either breed dogs on farms, steal family pets, take dogs from the streets or buy them from their owners. They are then forced into small cages and suffer broken limbs as they are driven long distances without food or water. When they arrive at the dog meat markets, they are either beaten, hanged, electrocuted to death or thrown alive into boiling water to remove their skins. There are many activist groups and people of the general public who vehemently protest the consumption of dog flesh. Those same good-hearted people will unknowingly pay for almost identical acts of cruelty for other animal products. If a pig doesn't want to be killed, a dog doesn't want to be killed, do you think we should be killing any of them? I think we shouldn't kill any of them, I think so. Pigs have been proven in studies to have higher intelligence than dogs. They are considered one of the smartest animals on earth by scientists. Which are, you observe different stages of development in a young child and some of those same kinds of things can be looked for in an animal like a pig. Even so, the majority of pigs on earth are factory farmed. They are kept in dark sheds in their own waste and suffer horrific mutilations and psychological distress. Around 1.5 billion pigs are slaughtered worldwide each year, with one of the most common methods for stunning being CO2 gas chambers. First thing I felt when I entered the gas chamber was my eyes and nostrils burning intensely. What the industry don't want us to know is that water and high levels of carbon dioxide perform carbonic acid on their eyes and every surface. So when the pigs inhale, even their lungs, throat, nose and mouth become acidic. In their last minutes, these pigs are burning from the inside out. First thought to be one of the most humane methods and even approved by animal welfare groups such as the RSPCA. It has since been exposed by investigators and has been shown to be one of the most horrific slaughter methods. Proven in research to cause extreme suffering and distress before death. Similarly to dogs in Asia, pigs have been documented being dunked fully conscious into scolding tanks after being ineffectively stunned. Cows, lambs, chickens and fish are also conscious and intelligent animals who face unimaginable cruelties and violence in the name of flesh eating. So although it's horrific that 30 million dogs are killed annually for their flesh, a total of 74 billion land animals and 1-3 trillion marine animals, some of similar or even higher intelligence to dogs, are murdered every year for their flesh, yet no one bats an eye. Let's take a look at the many ways humans try to justify the practice of killing animals for food and see if they hold true in the context of the dog meat trade. People might say eating animals is traditional, cultural and we've always done it. We've been eating animals for thousands of years. Well, you and dog meat festival is traditional and cultural. Should it be continued? People may also say these animals are bred for that purpose. Without us, they wouldn't have life. Well, in South Korea, they have specific farms to raise dogs for flesh. Would that then justify the subsequent murder and consumption of these conscious creatures? People often say, well, I need to eat these animals for protein, iron or B12. Well, dog meat contains all of those nutrients. Would this reason satisfy you enough for someone to continue to eat dogs? What if they found out they could get all their nutrients from a well-planned plant-based diet or a weekly supplement? Here's another one. The animals I eat were cared for and killed humanely. Well, let's entertain that for a moment. Even though the large majority of animals on earth are factory farmed and suffer horrible existences and the slaughterhouses I've seen have been stomach-turning to say the least. But let's apply this reasoning to the dog meat scenario. If we were to raise and kill dogs in a less cruel way, let's say in the exact same way you obtain other animal products, would you then feel comfortable mass killing dogs for meat? And can you even humanely kill a dog if they don't want to die? What if it was a little too inconvenient to stop killing and eating dogs for food? Let's say people had to walk an extra 50 meters from the dog meat festival to the plant-based food festival down the road. But they chose instead to stay and eat the dog meat because it was a little too hard for them to avoid. Would you accept that? But what about the taste? The animals we eat in the west, steak, bacon, fried chicken, fish, they just taste too good to give up. What if the local dog flesh eaters used that same argument? Do you think that the dog meat lovers' taste preferences are worth more than the lives and the suffering of these dogs? Now apply that to the pigs, cows, chickens and fish. Is the fleeting taste of, say, bacon worth more than the pigs' entire existence? Wouldn't you be outraged after seeing images of dogs in cages being tortured and murdered? To hear someone say, yeah, it's cruel, but dogs just taste too good to give up. Would any of these arguments be sufficient enough to continue the unimaginable horrors of the dog meat trade? It seems to me when you hear the excuses that a common meat eater might use to defend their consumption of animals and then apply them to the dog meat trade, it exposes a plethora of double standards and hypocrisy. Look, I understand people's emotional connection when it comes to dogs. I love dogs too, but I've also grown to understand the value in other animals. Generally from a young age we're taught to value our companion animals more than others. I agree that it's completely morally unacceptable to eat dogs, but surely you might also agree that it is just as evil to perpetuate the same wrongdoings to other sentient beings on a far greater scale for something as trivial as a burger. Whether it's dogs in Newland, dairy cows in America, pigs in the UK, chickens in Australia, or fish in Europe, all animals deserve a life free from suffering. So let's change the way we view animals and practice a lifestyle which seeks to exclude animal exploitation and cruelty as far as possible and practicable. Let's create the world we want to see for all animals and choose vegan.