Almost anything alive can and will be eaten at some point in Asia (except humans)

I think it is a lot like Burritos in the Mexican culture which can be made (unless you ask) of real burros or dogs.

So, we have cultures like this right now nearby. So, maybe it is Americans who are extreme and others just survive in how they treat their dogs and cats in specific. So, as I drove down a street in Korea (this is also true in Viet Nam and China too by the way) and saw a dog tied up I would say to my friend, "Is that a pet or food?" And he would say, "I don't know, often it is both."

Which at the time was confusing to me. But, as I thought more about it from an anthropological viewpoint it is a lot like we experience with children when they raise in 4H club a steer or pig from babyhood to adulthood and then they might be forced to sell it for slaughter, like that.

So, even though the pig or steer from a baby on might be a pet or friend to children in the U.S. then they have to give it up. My wife remembers rabbits and roosters and chickens this way and was upset to find one of her pets being eaten (likely a chicken or rooster) at the dinner table one day. I think often it is a lot like that in Asia too.

The basic idea is that you find a way not to starve. So, maybe the family doesn't have enough money to buy enough food that week so you eat your dog or or you cat. You might feel terrible about this but you are still alive but your pet is not. So, this was a way of prioritizing the needs of your family above the needs of your pet in Asian cultures.

So, looking at it in this way you can see how during famines people ate their pets so their children didn't die and this evolved until now when pets can be both pets and food depending how well the family economically is doing right then.