I just got back from Vietnam, and wanted Portlanders to know what a delicacy dog is. I stopped at a kiosk in Ho Chi Minh City and ordered a bowl of sum lam, which is dog meat and noodles in peanut broth. As I ate, I observed the chef reach into a kennel and take out a puppy. In a blur of motion, the puppy's head was chopped off after one swift blow with a meat cleaver. I asked the waiter about this, and he told me it was to ensure the dog didn't suffer. "In Vietnam, we love dogs very much and don't want them to feel pain." He asked me if people in Portland loved dogs. I told him of the incident when somebody was leaving meat laced with weed killer in parks to poison dogs. He was shocked. I also told him strays were put to death if unclaimed. This made him angry. "If Americans didn't eat so much junk food, fine dogs wouldn't go to waste!" He said Portland sounded like dog hell and that our dogs should be sent to Vietnam, where they would be treated with respect. I agreed, paid my check, and left.—Anonymous