Dog meat is said to have a taste like a cross between mutton and beef and an extra meaty flavoring.
Dog meat is a red meat, extremely fragrant and quite fatty.
Some people find dog meat delicious to eat.
In the 21st century, dog meat is consumed in China, Nigeria, Switzerland, and Vietnam, and it is eaten or is legal to be eaten in other countries throughout the world.
Years ago my dad was in Vietnam and actually ate dog meat although he was unaware of it.
He said it was delicious but a few days later he found out what it was and said he hated it.
In reality it probably tasted good to him at the time but just after finding out what it was made it disgusting to him.
Estimates for total dog killings in China range from 10 to 20 million dogs annually, for purposes of human consumption.
However, estimates such as these are not official and are derived from extrapolating industry reports on meat tonnage to an estimate of dogs killed.
Consuming dog meat is legal in mainland China except for the city of Shenzhen, and the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture has never issued quarantine procedures for slaughtering dogs.
In 2020, the commercial slaughter and sale of dogs was banned in all of China.
The eating of dog meat in China dates back to around 500 BCE, and possibly even earlier. It has been suggested that wolves in southern China may have been domesticated as a source of meat.
Mencius (372–289 BCE) talked about dog meat as being an edible, dietary meat.
It was reported in the early 2000s that the meat was thought to have medicinal properties, and had been popular in northern China during the winter, as it was believed to raise body temperature after consumption and promote warmth.
Historical records have shown how in times of food scarcities (as in wartime situations), dogs could also be eaten as an emergency food source.
In modern times, the extent of dog consumption in China varies by region.
It is most prevalent in Guangdong, Yunnan and Guangxi, as well as the northern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning.
It was reportedly common in 2010 to find dog meat served in restaurants in Southern China, where dogs are reared on farms for consumption.
In 2012, Chinese netizens and the Chinese police intercepted trucks transporting caged dogs to be slaughtered in localities such as Chongqing and Kunming.
Prepared and cooked dog ready for purchase
Since 2009, Yulin, Guangxi, has held an annual festival of eating dog meat (purportedly a celebration of the summer solstice). In 2014, the municipal government published a statement distancing itself from the festival, saying it was not a cultural tradition, but rather a commercial event held by restaurants and the public.
The festival in 2011 spanned 10 days, during which 15,000 dogs were consumed.
Estimates of the number of dogs eaten in 2015 for the festival ranged from as high as 10,000 to lower than 1,000 amid growing pressure at home and abroad to end it.
Festival organizers state that only dogs bred specifically for consumption are used, while objectors say that some of the dogs purchased for slaughter and consumption are strays or stolen pets.
Some of the dogs at the festival are alleged to have been burnt or boiled alive or beaten out of the belief that increased adrenaline circulating in the dog's body adds to the flavor of the meat.
Other reports, however, state that there have been little evidence of those practices since 2015.