Dogflesh eating by humans in sub‐Saharan Africa

This paper describes the eating and rejection of dogflesh by native peoples in Africa south of the Sahara. Its focus is geographic and culture historical, and its principal concern is with sociocultural factors related to the practice of dog eating by humans (cynophagy): perceptions of the dog, role of the dog in human society and economy, social and ritual contexts of dog eating, and environmental, religious and other factors that have favored the practice, or acted against it and contributed to its decline in modern times.

Key words:

• Food history
• geography of food
• food habits
• food preferences and prejudices
• meat in human diet
• dogflesh in human diet
• domesticated animals and human culture
• the dog in human culture
• ethnozoology
• Africa south of the Sahara