Cultural differences - we know they exist. What is acceptable practice in one country can cause a ripple of horror through another country.
So when news broke this week that barbecuing of dogs was not only happening in Auckland, but was considered prevalent by the SPCA, the topic became instant national news.
SPCA inspectors have removed the partially-charred body of a pet dog being cooked in a backyard barbecue.
But they cannot prosecute anyone over its death because it had been killed "humanely".
Frustrated SPCA Auckland chief executive Garth Halliday revealed it isn't illegal to kill and then eat a dog in New Zealand if the animal is slaughtered in a swift and painless manner.
Halliday said shocked inspectors had evidence that backyard dog barbecues were becoming more common.
I know this happens overseas. We have all read about it. It was interesting that there has been some response about it from a spokesperson from Korea... a country that has practiced this.
A Korean community spokesman wants the consumption of dog meat banned in New Zealand - despite his country's tradition of eating dog.
"Dog eating may be part of our history, but most Koreans today would consider eating dogs totally barbaric - and our culture actually forbids us making a meal of animals that are considered companions".
I think the idea of eating animals we have raised to be companions is possibly why there is such a reaction. I know I can't eat pet lambs or calves either... even if many people can.
I will leave you with the words of Nick Barnett from Four Legs Good, becuase he has perfectly captured for me why it makes my stomach turn.
Cats and dogs are species that we largely created, for our own purposes. Sometimes to do work for us, but nowadays mostly for companionship. They're the animals we let closest to us, and the ones we form the most tender relationships with. We've bred them for thousands of years so it's easier to love them, and so they'll fit our lives better. We've taken away a lot of their wildness, made them biddable, safer, soft, smart, attractive, sociable. They share our homes.
They're there to please us, and to be lovable, because we want to love them.
To me, this creates an obligation for us humans to treat companion species differently from livestock or "wild" animals. To create species to love us and then to use them for eating seems a hard-hearted betrayal, and encourages a cynicism about the rights of animals.
All those values are buried in my culture, and my culture imparted them to me.
This is why, for me, eating a dog is unthinkable.
Do go and read his post -
