Kenya offended at dog food aid offer

[Ouchyfish]

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya dismissed as "culturally insulting" Tuesday an offer of powdered dog food to feed starving children reportedly made by the founder of a canine biscuit company in New Zealand.

"Kenyan kids are not so desperate as to eat dog food," Kenya government spokesman Alfred Mutua told Reuters in response to a front-page story in the east African country's leading daily.

Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper said Christine Drummond of the Mighty Mix company in New Zealand had offered to send dog food powder to hungry children in western Kenya.

The information appeared to be coming from a New Zealand newspaper, which said Drummond had been moved to make a donation of 6,000 emergency packs of dog food mixture after the daughter of a friend visited the drought-hit country.

When mixed with water, the powder would provide sustainable meals, said an article posted on the web site of The Press newspaper, helping to ease a growing problem of food shortages.

"I made it out of ingredients they (children) are used to eating, so the main bulk product is corn," Drummond was quoted as saying.

Another representative of Mighty Mix said the food would be distributed through a charity in Kenya, as a "nutritional supplement" rather then dog food, the article said.

But government spokesman Mutua said it was unacceptable.

"The offer was very naive and culturally insulting given the meaning of dogs in our culture," he said. "We understand where she was coming from, and we appreciate, but it is culturally unacceptable."

Being called a dog is one of the worst insults in Africa where people generally do not keep dogs as pets.

The government says four million people are facing hunger in Kenya due to severe drought. Aid agencies say dozens of people and thousands of livestock have died in recent months.

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I understand it isn't exactly the nicest thing in the world but I would gladly accept powdered dog food if I was starving.

[Yamori]

For real... their counterproductive pride may cost some people's lives that could have been saved.

[Ouchyfish]

"Kenyan kids are not so desperate as to eat dog food," Kenya government spokesman Alfred Mutua told Reuters

Easy to say when you're not hungry.

[Phlegm]

They could take all the animals in the pounds that nobody want and ship them to Kenya for food.

[Spazz]

Its not like there isnt tons of real food all over the planet or anything. Think bout if some country offered the us dog food to eat after katrina.

[Minrott]

Nobody starved to death because of Katrina. The worst anyone was off was hungry a few days, and that ain't starving.

Being called a dog is one of the worst insults in Africa where people generally do not keep dogs as pets.

Let them starve.

[Spazz]

You dont think people would go batshit in this country if they were offered dog food ?

[Tikker]

I actually agree with Spazz on this one

[Goose_Man]

Beggars can’t be choosers? Or can they?

[Ouchyfish]

Kenya isn't this country. If the majority of my state went around sucking on motherfucking rocks for food while children were starving to death, then I wouldn't expect them to balk at the motherfucking alpo when it was offered.

Don't mix apples and oranges here. A dog food maker offered help, they refused it because of a stupid technicality.

Let that fucking government official starve like them kids and see how he feels about the dog food.

[Tikker]

Beggars can’t be choosers? Or can they?

well, what if a cannabilistic society offered to send people steaks here?

people would balk at that np


same kind of idea

[Ouchyfish]

I wouldn't balk at a god damn rotten rhinos asshole lips if I was starving to death.

The problem is the motherfucker that gets 3-4-5 square meals a day is making decisions for those that eat a grain of rice per week.

[Goose_Man]

How is eating a human even remotely close to eating dog food?!!?!

Dog food mostly made out of CORN I might add and not DOGS.

Not even close to the same kind of idea hurrrrrr

You're getting confused.

Their country is starving and their people are dieing from this starvation. They were offered food, ya know the stuff that keeps you from starving? Sure its not steak and lobster but holy fuck take what you can get in a situation like that.

[Spazz]

Im not sayin dont do what ya gotta do to survive but it is really wack to offer PEOPLE dog food.

[Gaazy]

shit if I was as hungry as some of those kids, I'd eat the FUCK out of some dog food. It would beat grass

[Minrott]

Food is food. The packaging it comes in doesn't change that, and THEY EVEN CHANGED THE PACKAGING.

They're not ordering out pizza, they need basic human sustinance to survive. Calories and Carbohydrates. Thats it. This is the black people being interviewed on MSNBC after Katrina saying "$2000 debit cards!?!? I WANT $20,000 DEBIT CARDS! THE COUNTRY OWES ME"

Any lives lost to starvation are soley the responsibility of those making the decisions to turn away ANYTHING that could help them survive.

[Yamori]

'Dog Food' is just a name.

It's low quality food (corn biscuits). For people whose meals mostly consist of small amounts of rice gruel - WHO ARE NOW LACKING EVEN THAT - how is this at all a bad thing? At least it's something. And it's far better than the agony of starving to death.

[Jimmy Durante]

Fine -- the kids can starve while Fido gets fatter.

"The offer was very naive and culturally insulting given the meaning of dogs in our culture," he said. "We understand where she was coming from, and we appreciate, but it is culturally unacceptable."

I disagree, but he might have had a point though if Mighty Mix tossed in personalized food bowls.

[Lyion]

No matter how you slice it, offering dog food to people is very insulting and degrading.

Yes, some are hungry. Yes, they need food. But come on, people still have dignity..

This was done for the right reasons, but should have been done in a different way.

[Ouchyfish]

Lyion that's like arguing that you're glad the firefighter saved you from the burning building but they didn't have to dislocate your arm doing so.

[labbats]

"I'm like anyone else on this planet -- I'm very moved by world hunger. I see the same commercials, with those little kids, starving, and very depressed. I watch those kids and I go, 'Fuck, I know the FILM crew could give this kid a sandwich!' There's a director five feet away going, 'DON'T FEED HIM YET! GET THAT SANDWICH OUTTA HERE! IT DOESN'T WORK UNLESS HE LOOKS HUNGRY!!!' But I'm not trying to make fun of world hunger. Matter of fact, I think I have the answer. You want to stop world hunger? Stop sending these people food. Don't send these people another bite, folks. You want to send them something, you want to help? Send them U-Hauls. Send them U-Hauls, some luggage, send them a guy out there who says, 'Hey, we been driving out here every day with your food, for, like, the last thirty or forty years, and we were driving out here today across the desert, and it occurred to us that there wouldn't BE world hunger, if you people would LIVE WHERE THE FOOD IS! YOU LIVE IN A DESERT! YOU LIVE IN A FUCKING DESERT! NOTHING GROWS OUT HERE! NOTHING'S GONNA GROW OUT HERE! YOU SEE THIS? HUH? THIS IS SAND. KNOW WHAT IT'S GONNA BE A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW? IT'S GONNA BE SAND! YOU LIVE IN A FUCKING DESERT! GET YOUR STUFF, GET YOUR SHIT, WE'LL MAKE ONE TRIP, WE'LL TAKE YOU TO WHERE THE FOOD IS! WE HAVE DESERTS IN AMERICA -- WE JUST DON'T LIVE IN THEM, ASSHOLES!"

[Phlegm]

Kenya could always ask Geldoff to do another concert.

[kaharthemad]

You dont think people would go batshit in this country if they were offered dog food ?

then they can fucking starve. If all that is on the menu is horse meat ala Alpo you eat it.
You know how much actual red tape is involved in humanitarian shipments? I do. I used to help a few of these places back in the day. 80 percent of the food rots on the docks because the Kenyan Government wraps the shipments in so much red tape it makes the US Postal Service look like a smooth well oiled machine.

Think about that sometime. Yeah it is sad that they are starving but if somebody offers food you take it. ok so it aint dinner at the ritz, it is nutrients and hell look at that it dont rot on the dock.

[Kramer]

Americans criticizing others on starvation is like Icelanders criticizing others on funk and soul

[Ouchyfish]

I'm pretty sure our starvation ratios are below Kenyas. Besides, don't go screwy liberal on us here--the point is that sustenance was offered to people dying and they refused it out of pride.

If they offered it to starving Americans and they refused I would give the same criticism.