You may have noticed people in Britain talking about dog meat recently. It all stems from this article in the Sun on Monday.
The newspaper spoke to campaigners from the World Dog Alliance, who warned that dog-eating in Britain was on the rise, thanks to "immigration from the Far East".
So, of course, the prime minister's spokesperson was asked about it at a regular briefing for journalists on Monday morning (hey, it is recess).
And he said the UK government would "look closely" at new laws in the United States introducing a ban on the consumption of dog meat.
So wait, hold up — is it not already illegal to eat dog meat in the UK?
Britain does already have laws against buying or selling dog meat. But, technically, there is no law against humanely killing your own dog and eating it.
Campaigners describe this as a loophole, and say it should be closed as soon as possible.
Lisa Cameron, an SNP MP who is chair of the all-party parliamentary group on dog welfare, said it was about sending a message to possible perpetrators.
She told BuzzFeed News: "Let's send a very clear signal so that if anyone did decide to kill their dog and eat the meat, then something could actually be done about it and there’s not a loophole in the law. So this is about prevention in a sense."
But it's not at all clear how many dogs, if any, are eaten in the UK.
While dogs are eaten in some Asian countries, including China, Indonesia, and South Korea, there seems to be no evidence of it happening in Britain.
The World Dog Alliance, an organisation based in Hong Kong, told the Sun: "In the US, people who eat dog meat are mainly immigrants from Asia. With three million immigrants from East Asia in the UK, we cannot deny this situation exists here too."
But animal welfare charity the RSPCA is very sceptical.
In a statement, it said: "The RSPCA has no evidence that dog meat-eating is on the rise in the UK, nor have we ever received any reports on this issue. While we do not believe it happens here, we continue to monitor the situation.”
The WDA is launching a campaign in the UK next month calling for a total ban on dog meat consumption.
"Although cases of dog meat consumption are relatively rare in the United Kingdom, when they occur outdated animal protection laws do not cover them," the organisation told BuzzFeed News.
It pointed to police figures showing that dog thefts were on the rise in Britain, adding: "We fear some of the stolen dogs have become meals for dog-eaters."
The WDA believes Britain has a duty to act because it can influence many other countries around the world to crack down on the practice.
New laws to ban dog meat consumption in the US are currently going through Congress.
Lisa Cameron said she had been "absolutely inundated" with letters and emails calling for a crackdown on dog meat consumption.
She said people were "astonished that this is not already illegal and would like to see it become so".
"I can’t imagine any politician saying that they don’t think the law should be strengthened on this if there is a loophole," she added. "The public want strong animal welfare legislation; the public are definitely dog lovers and I think they are behind a ban."
Meanwhile, her all-party group is due to meet in September to discuss reports that retired British greyhounds are being sold to dog meat traders in China.
But the RSPCA said there was already an effective ban in place. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
"It is illegal to sell dog meat to the public in the UK," an RSPCA spokesperson said.
"There are also no abattoirs that have a licence to kill dogs and it would be against slaughter and animal welfare legislation too. So, while dog meat-eating is not specifically banned here, these laws mean that there is effectively a ban on the practice."
Number 10 has said it will "look closely" at new US laws — but no decisions have yet been made.
Theresa May's official spokesperson said: "The commercial trade in dog meat in the UK is illegal, but we will look closely at the decision taken in the US.
"Britain is a nation of animal lovers and we continue to have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world. We wish to maintain that."