Hong Kong - Four Hong Kong men sentenced to jail for slaughtering and eating two dogs launched an appeal of their sentence Friday. The men, aged 40 to 49, were sentenced to 30 days in December after pleading guilty to killing and cooking two mongrel dogs that had been raised by one of the men.
At the hearing, they claimed that eating dogs was part of Chinese culture, but their argument was rejected by the magistrate, who said men and dogs had a bond of friendship that should not be abused.
At the appeal Friday, their defence counsel asked the court to suspend the sentence or allow the men to do community service instead.
He argued that the men had pleaded guilty to the charge - the first time such a charge was taken to court in Hong Kong - and that they had no previous convictions and had not prolonged the suffering of the dogs.
However, the prosecution argued that the act was disturbing and the men had drowned the dogs before butchering and cooking them.
The court reserved judgement until a later date.
Eating dog is widespread in parts of China and some South-East Asian countries but is illegal in Hong Kong, a former British colony.
