New Delhi’s stray dogs lead a difficult life. But if it was up to one city councillor, they would find themselves in more hot water — soup, to be precise.
Shipping the thousands of strays to Korea, where dog meat is widely consumed in soup, was one of the more outlandish ideas proposed at a city-council meeting to deal with the problem, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported on Thursday.
None of the ideas — from the aforementioned Korean plan to drugging the canines so they sleep through the day — are likely to be implemented any time soon. Instead, the council chairperson asked the presumably more responsible veterinary department to come up with a workable plan.
Tens of thousands of strays live in New Delhi. Many are often cared for by people in the areas they live, but some become aggressive, and bites and rabies are a problem. Efforts to sterilise them have been largely unsuccessful.
City councillor Mohan Prashad Bharadwaj said he had read that Koreans were fond of dog meat and ”maybe we can send all the stray dogs of Delhi there”, the paper quoted him as saying.
A soup with dog meat called boshintang is popular in Korea, especially on the three hot ”dog days” of summer on the lunar calendar.
The traditional belief is that dog meat helps boost stamina and virility, but activists regularly criticise the practice and call for bans on eating dog meat.
City officials could not immediately be reached for comment. — Sapa-AP