Beware for your pet dog

A dog can really be a mans best friend. At least that's the term we use in America. A dog can be useful in many ways. In America, dogs can be trained to do all kinds of things like helping the blind, fetching your newspaper when it comes in and even helping you consume leftover bones when done eating. Police train dogs to help them fight crime and firemen use them for searching and rescuing. So a dog can really be a best mans friend in a way if trained properly.

In Cambodia, dogs are not that well looked at like they are in the states. They can guard your place one minute and end up in someones pot the next. Yep, that's right, in someones pot. The picture above is a picture I had of my little pup since he was young and now he's not with me anymore. Not because I treated him wrong but most likely do to someones  hunger for this animal.

In many places here in Cambodia, dog is considered a special meal. Dog is mainly cooked and eaten when many are having a get together. I have even heard many locals express their hunger for dog meat and to me, it just doesn't seem right. Dogs can be found sold in special eating places in Battambang and places will even pay you for stray dogs giving you as much as $10 per dog. Seems like a good way to make a few extra dollars doesn't it? Well really, it's not in my eyes. I still hold pet dogs to a certain standard and eating and selling them does not seem right in my case. I do not have anything against people who eat dogs and really don't care what they choose to consume when their hunger strikes them, but I wrote this to let those know that people do care for their dogs here in Cambodia and stealing them for food is not a good practice.