Life & Death. 2025.8.276

When I first read this story, my reaction was, “Unbelievable!”
But after thinking more, I realized… maybe it’s not so strange.

Humans including me eat countless animals every day.
Cows, pigs, chickens—we kill them and eat them without much guilt.

Yet, I cannot imagine eating dogs myself.
Why? Because I think dogs became my close companions before they became food.
So, even though I eat other animals, I cannot eat a dog.
That’s a kind of irony.

Even with humans, when someone dies, each culture has its own way of saying goodbye:
burial, cremation, sky burial, and so on.
And people end up forgetting those who passed away as if they haven't existed..
So maybe, using an animal’s body as food in the food chain
could also be seen as one possible way.

But still, I think we should not donate animals’ bodies blindly.
We need clear conditions to make sure it is respectful from the animals’ point of view.

For example, in Denmark, a healthy young giraffe Marius was euthanized and fed to lions.
The zoo explained it was done to maintain genetic diversity.
And the whole process was even shown to people as a form of “education.”

In countries like the U.S., Korea, and Japan,
zoo animals are usually fed with meat that is already slaughtered and packaged—without showing the process.

Both methods exist.
But which one is truly better?

In Europe, the approach is very matter-of-fact:
follow science, follow ecology, make the tough calls and move on.

In the U.S., people lean more on feelings and ethics—
what the public is comfortable with, what visitors will accept.

So here’s the big question:
Can humans really step into the animals’ shoes…
and be sure we’re doing what’s best for them?