It’s a man eat dog, cow, pig, sheep, fish world!

The Saint suggests all those holier-than-thou types - such as the SPCA, SAFE, Paul Holmes, John Banks and others - who are baying for the blood of a South Auckland Tongan man for killing his pet pit bull, chucking it on the BBQ and then serving it to his family last week, need to get a grip.
The man said the decision to kill and cook the dog was made only after it became unruly attack. What would the bleeding hearts from the SPCA or the vote-seeking politicians have said if the dog had gone on to attack visitors to the house and inflict horrendous injuries? What’s the bet they'd have turned on the owner, particularly if he'd confessed the beast had tried to bite people before, but he'd done nothing.
Now I know my view on this subject will upset the management – she is an avowed animal lover and big fan of dogs – just not on her plate! However, I am willing to undertake her wrath – which can be a whole lot more scary than a pit bull in full attack mode – to make a genuine point.
However, I am not alone with this opinion. Even NZ Herald columnist and sickly white lefty - whom yours truly rarely agrees with - writes rather controversially that Paea Taufa should be giving him a medal for his actions.
“Because if every pit bull owner in the land followed his lead, New Zealand would be a safer place to live.” Rudman also quotes the SPCA as saying what happened was not illegal - but believes it was not "morally right". He then poses: “I wonder how morally clear they would be if the animal had lived on to monster a passing jogger or playful toddler.”
Yes, the thought – to most, middle-class, townie New Zealanders – of knocking Rover on the head and then turning him into Sunday dinner via a backyard umu is abhorrent. However, while we might not like to admit it, eating dog is very common around the world in places like Korea, China and in the Pacific Islands.
Yet, how many of these same people who were outraged by the friendly Tongans actions have thought about how abhorrent some of their behaviours are to others?
The Saint hails from a farming background and would not blink twice at a farmer taking the family pet lamb, raised from birth by his kids, behind the shed, then re-appearing with the Sunday roast. Or calf, or piglet or chicken! So why is it so different when it happens to be a dog?
How do you think a Hindus might view us slaughtering and eating cows? An animal which is sacred in their religion!
New Zealand is a country with an economy based on killing animals for export. It is our lifeblood and it is highly hypocritical for us to reel against people killing and eating animals – as long as it is done humanely and quickly as possible. Admittedly, Mr Taufa’s method of dispatch was unconventional - a whack on the head then, when unconscious, a cut to the throat. But is that so different from what most farmers or abattoirs do up and down the land?
Again I’ll quote Rudman: “We're also a hunting, shooting, fishing culture. There's no squawking from the politicians or the general public about the morality of dropping a live crayfish into a pot of boiling water or, if they're lucky, sticking them into a freezer to slowly "go to sleep".
He goes on: “Our culture also lauds the heroism of brave fishermen, torturing majestic beasts of the sea by hoodwinking them into biting on vicious hooks which are then "played" for long periods until the "gamefish" finally succumb. This is called sport.”
Like Rudman I'm no vegetarian – in fact I am proudly carnivorous. I love my steaks and crayfish, and chicken and lamb and beef. But I'm not a hypocrite either.
Luckily man is at the top of the food chain and like it or not all animals – including cats and dogs – are further down. So sorry to the management and all other “animal lovers” but all are fair game.
But for some reason, our culture, unlike, say Tongans and Koreans, has decided to treat dogs primarily as pets rather than food. However, even with pets, the line is hazy. Pet sheep and calves do turn into the Sunday roast. So let's not get too sanctimonious over one dead pit bull.