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Michael says... Don't eat that sacred cow... er, dog

French actress Brigitte Bardot has become an animal rights activist in her old age... well, actually, her fanaticism on that front began when she was middle-aged.  Recently she sent a protest letter to South Koreans over their country's dog-eating culture.  The letter, dated December 4, said "Defending and justifying this brutality in the name of culture is an absurdity!"  Her letter was posted on her animal protection foundation's Web site and also appeared in South Korea's English-language newspaper The Korea Times.  In the letter Bardot said her Foundation has received "nearly a thousand insulting and threatening messages from Korea."  "I dare to hope that all Koreans are not like those who recently sent those awful messages to my Foundation, and I dare to hope that many of you will not ignore animal suffering."  Bardot has long criticized the dog-eating habit of Koreans.  About 3 million of South Korea's 46 million people are believed to eat dog meat as a delicacy.  Dog meat also is eaten in China, Vietnam, the Philippines and some other Asian countries.

Seems to me that we need to respect other cultures. They are eating the dogs, not torturing them. I can't stomach "delicacies" like that myself, but it's pretty nervy to turn dogs into sacred cows.

posted December 17, 2001 - March 18, 2002