Dog eater needs 'education, not punishment'

(click on title link to read the whole article)
Animal welfare group Save Animals From Exploitation said it was totally opposed to killing and eating domestic pets.

Mayor Banks said hating Mr Taufa for what he had done was uncalled for, as the level of cruelty and violence towards domestic pets was "shameful" in New Zealand.

The SPCA said it could not prosecute Mr Taufa because he had killed the dog in a humane way, with minimal pain and suffering.

....so Mr Banks is opposed to eating a pet, and the Save Animals From Exploitation is opposed to eating DOMESTIC pets... what a bunch of hypocrites! The SPCA should never even had to comment about this because in their own words "he had killed the dog in a humane way, with minimal pain and suffering." NO suffering. Go catch the people who use dogs in dog fights. This topic just shows how people's argument skills are flawed.

I'm not vegetarian, so how can I say that this Tongan man is wrong in eating dog. What's the difference between dog, sheep, cow, goat, horse ?!?

Then you read "SPCA calls for law change after dog BBQ". Why? They actually said that this man did nothing wrong in terms of treating this dog humanely.

Read what other people have to say in this article (click on article above)... go to the end of the article for the comments...

Nice to know that I'm in good company with my opinion (see below)

Editorial: Cultural norms in a dog eat dog world

OPINION: The howls of outrage at news a Tongan family in Auckland killed and cooked their dog have an ear-stinging ring of ignorance and hypocrisy.

The SPCA is leading the self-righteous indignation of the culturally closed-minded and is calling on the Government to change the law so people like Paea Taufa can be prosecuted for killing dogs for consumption. MORE>>

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Dogs on barbies 'not pets' (ABC NEWS- Australia)

A New Zealand academic says cultural differences are behind the controversy caused when a Tongan family killed and barbequed its staffordshire bull terrier.

Professor of Pacific at Auckland's Massey University, Sitaleki Finau, says in Tongan culture dogs are not viewed as companions, but as another source of meat, and the boundaries do not cross.

"People [Tongans] who look after animals do not consider them pets. I used to look after pigs and we used to eat pigs. The word pet is probably given to the person who looks after the animals, it's not so much that they are anything special," Professor Finau said.

"For Tongans there is a very, very marked division between a pet and people - so pets don't sleep with people, pets don't come into the house, pets don't do all sorts of things the way that regular Pakeha [non-indigenous New Zealanders] treat their pets here; some of the pets here eat better than human beings," he added.

"Young men around the villages or work groups they would - if they have access to a dog - cook them for lunch, but it's not actually a formal family meal type thing, unless in times of stress, then it makes it way onto the family's regular meal menu."

He says it is a fairly regular occurrence.

"I've just come back from Niue; the police used to shoot stray dogs and give them to people in Niue, mostly Tongans who eat dogs."

Under New Zealand's Animal Welfare Act it is legal to kill a dog if the animal is slaughtered swiftly and painlessly.

Professor Finau believes New Zealand law should stay as it is "because you are going to have difficulty defining what a pet is".

There is no federal Australian legislation governing the legality of eating cats and dogs and the RSPCA points to state and territory specific legislation that shows it is only illegal in South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.

The RSPCA say it is opposed to the use of dogs and cats for fur or food, and president Dr Hugh Wirth has previously led a campaign to include dogs and cats on the list of animals banned from backyard slaughter.