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Fido and Lassie Off The Menu During Beijing Olympic Games

By Robert Paul Reyes

"Canine cuisine is being sent to the doghouse during next month's Beijing Olympic Games.

Dog meat has been struck from the menus of officially designated Olympic restaurants, and Beijing tourism officials are telling other outlets to discourage consumers from ordering dishes made from dogs, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

Waiters and waitresses should 'patiently' suggest other options to diners who order dog, it said, quoting city tourism bureau Vice Director Xiong Yumei."

Quotation from the Associated Press

I can imagine a waitress patiently urging a Chinese customer not to eat dog:

Waiter: Mr. Phingtron, I know dog ear is a delicious delicacy, but we must not offend the sensibilities of the Capitalists. Please order some Chow Mein or sweet and sour pork instead.

As the owner of two dogs, I'm delighted that at least for a few weeks canine cuisine will be off the menu of selected Beijing restaurants. Westerners won't be faced with the horrible prospect of opening a menu and finding the following entrees: Poodle bits, Boxer Burger, Pit Bull jerky and Hot Dogs (made from real dogs).

But when I think of the injustices in China, animal cruelty is at the bottom of the list. It would be nice if China banned sweatshops, the oppression of Tibet, and the imprisonment of dissidents during the Olympics.

Westerners shouldn't go to the Olympics in the first place, why give legitimacy to a totalitarian government? I'm so disgusted by the tyranny of the Chinese government, that I'm not watching the Olympics on TV.

Robert Paul Reyes is a NewsBlaze writer on Politics, Pop Culture and Pointless Pontificating. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.