I couldn't even bear to watch the documentaries about Vietnam, Laos, and Korea. Not to mention China. Thailand is one of the countries that at least gives lip service to ending the practice. The reason I posted about Thailand specifically is because that's where Steemfest 4 is supposed to be held. I can think of a thousand other places I'd rather go.

But you are spot-on correct: it's the lack of humanity in the treatment of these animals, not so much even their ultimate fate. Dogs are killed by the thousands in the U.S., too. But not by torture. That's sub-human. That's the same evil I glimpsed last Steemfest during the Auschwitz tour, except the tour was to remind us how to not repeat those kinds of mistakes.