Colliding cultures: Dog, anyone?

THAT which one society regards as an ancient cultural right another may view as a form of needless barbarism.

An annual festival in Yulin in the southeastern Chinese province of Guangxi, where anything up to 10,000 dogs are butchered and eaten with lychees, certainly falls into that double-sided category.

The Chinese, and others, have eaten dogs for thousands of years so they regard dogs in an entirely different light to Western sensibilities. Our enthusiasm for pork offends Muslims and Jews so it seems rational, if not emotionally reassuring, that we should accept that the Chinese appetite for dog meat is at least culturally valid.

However, there is growing unease with the festival in China as it is also seen as an occasion for wanton cruelty.

History shows how very difficult it is to influence ancient habits in faraway places, so maybe the best response to the outrage provoked in the West by the dog eating festival might be to take a cold look at our own behaviour, our own traditions, and ask if they might justifiably offend anyone.