Guess the Ingredients of the Dragon, Tiger and Phoenix Soup, a Chinese Delicacy

1. choggie
   December 19th, 2008 at 1:24 am

   I must try the delicious soup!!!

2. Banal
   December 19th, 2008 at 1:47 am

   Not surprising, coming from a land where they eat dogs and human fetuses.

3. Johnny Cat
   December 19th, 2008 at 1:50 am

   Not just in China

4. D'alva
   December 19th, 2008 at 2:52 am

   yum!

5. Moodindigo
   December 19th, 2008 at 4:03 am

   Human fetuses?

6. thebonemachine
   December 19th, 2008 at 5:33 am

   Where's that at, Johnny? And uh, for some reason, the "meow meow" seems a bit overdone. It makes me suspect some PS-based BS is going on...

7. Jezuz
   December 19th, 2008 at 7:43 am

   Cat - the other white meat.

   What's the difference between eating cat and eating veal, chicken, fish, cow, etc? Nothing.

8. DOJ
   December 19th, 2008 at 7:51 am

   Have your pets spayed or neutered.

9. Paulina
   December 19th, 2008 at 10:17 am

   I hate to say this, but I kind of agree with Jezuz. Pigs are meant to be more intelligent than dogs and yet no one really oposes their slaughter other than for religious reasons. What makes cats so different, just that they have soft fuzzy fur on their backs? I love cats, but just don't see what the logic behind this is.

10. Ben B.
    December 19th, 2008 at 11:18 am

    > What’s the difference between eating cat
    > and eating veal, chicken, fish, cow, etc? Nothing.

    That's exactly correct. When done by supposedly intelligent beings that have the choice, and power, to do so or not, the practice of killing other animals to eat them is technically no different regardless of the animal involved. Including the human animal.

    This is one of the reasons why people who have thought the matter through choose vegetarianism.

    It is the height of hypocrisy to claim the position of enlightened savior of animals you are familiar with or which satisfy your preconceptions as domestic companions, while ignoring the situations of the rest. They all have life experiences; they all feel pain; they have all the basic characteristics of a very young human child, with the single exception of the extent of their maximum future potential.

    There is an ethical way out: Support in-vitro meat research, and in the interim, stop consuming products that require animal suffering. Lower demand means less slaughter and less suffering. You don't have to be a slave to a carnivorous nature that developed prior to agriculture. You can be better. Simply try. A better world can start at your doorstep. The animal kingdom needs compassionate stewards, not uber-powerful carnivores and body-parts thieves.

    The mark of enlightenment is not the attainment and subsequent use of power; it is the attainment and restraint of such use. Convenience is not justification. But it is all too often the door to ethical failure, the demeaning of the very humanity that the confused like to cite as the reason they feel they are justified to prey upon other animals.

11. Hedgecore
    December 19th, 2008 at 12:25 pm

    I must say I'm shocked. I was about to comment on this article and say there's little difference between this and a 'socially acceptable' form of meat. People beat me to the punch!

    It boils down to selfishness that people would be mortified that somebody would want to cook and eat Fluffy while they munch on a slab of ham; but it's not what they do for Fluffy that drives them. It's the comfort the cat gives them when it sits on their lap, it's the funny things the cat does to amuse them. I'm sure that if cows started performing showtunes hamburger would be impossible to find.

12. Scooter
    December 19th, 2008 at 12:33 pm

    What, you didn't know that was Garfield on you fork?

    The part i can't stand is the passing off of this meat as other animals... if i want beef it better be beef.

13. Colt Seaver
    December 19th, 2008 at 1:46 pm

    If cats weren't carnivores, this wouldn't be gross.

14. Christophe
    December 19th, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    My Grand-father ate cat during WW2. He used to say it was tasting like rabbit.

    I eat snail, frog, horse, lamb, rabbit, venaison (Bambi!) and other disgusting or cute animals commonly. I only ask that they're killed properly. I would eat dog, but not the Chinese way where they torture them before.

15. Persephone
    December 19th, 2008 at 2:29 pm

    My first husband told me what the ingredients were over twenty years ago. He regularly had to travel to Taiwan, and said that in Taipei there is a street called Snake Alley where they have speciality restaurants and snakes for sale.

    It's true that meat, to an extent, is meat. However, certain curbs have been placed on us socially about eating certain types of meat as opposed to others, often based on diseases that can be acquired. Many of these curbs became religious tenets, as a way to make people follow them more closely. Additionally, many cultures have avoided eating cats, not only because they are pets, but because they curb the population of various vermin, protecting us from diseases passed by these vermin, especially the Plague. People have avoided eating dogs because dogs are not only pets, but provide protection and companionship, and assisted in the acquisition of food by hunting and became trained to herd other animals that provided food and clothing.

    While to many people cats and dogs are simply pets, they still do have important roles as working animals, making human life safer and happier.

    Most human societies do not eat other humans for important social reasons. Also, eating humans is an excellent way to spread diseases through populations. Eating carnivorous and omnivorous animals is a serious disease risk, one of the reasons many societies do not eat pigs or rodents or shellfish.

    If you are uncomfortable eating meat, fine. However, don't try to pass off vegetarianism as some higher, enlightened form of existence. It's not. You're denying millions of years of evolution as a personal choice. Again, that's fine. It's your personal choice, and I will respect it as your choice, but show some respect in return, if you expect to get any.

16. Noelegy
    December 19th, 2008 at 11:03 pm

    Nothing "neat" about this. Nothing whatsoever.

17. bobo
    December 20th, 2008 at 12:11 am

    PERSONALY I LOVE CATS I just can't eat one all a whole one by myself

18. bobo
    December 20th, 2008 at 12:13 am

    PERSONALY I LOVE CATS I just can't eat a whole one by myself

19. liphttam1
    December 20th, 2008 at 10:31 am

    Cute unough to eat, NOT TO TAKE SERIOUSLY!!

20. renderanything
    December 20th, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    The story says that the locals think cat is more nutritious, but I wonder if any actual studies have been conducted to this effect. In the U.S. we know about red meat, poultry, pork products, venison, bison meat, emu, etc... I haven't yet heard anyone mention any sincere benefits to eating cat.

21. ted
    December 20th, 2008 at 5:25 pm

    What's wrong about this is they should only be eating cats that were raised within a hundred miles of where they live.

    Kinda sad to see the holier-than-thous go on about "cats are the same as humans". No. They're not. Duh.

22. Serich
    December 20th, 2008 at 6:07 pm

    I think of vegetarianism as a form of zoocentricism. Animals are more similar to us than to plants, therefore we can empathize with them more readily. Just because your guru told you that you may be reborn as a cow, don't assume you won't be reborn as cauliflower. Sure, science suggests that plants don't have emotions, but guess what, science suggests that animals don't have emotions either (albeit this position is changing). We have evolved to eat meat. If you doubt this, try to get a sufficient compliment of B-12 (necessary to produce hemoglobin)from beans and pasta. If people weren't so against genetic engineering, we could be growing meat that could be eaten without slaughter, without suffering. Also, I would like to point out that maintaining fields for agriculture kills a lot of animals, and destroys the ecological system that was in place prior to cultivation.

23. peach
    December 21st, 2008 at 10:42 am

    I guess cats can be considered food just as pigs chickens and cows. But you should not steal someones beloved pet.

24. LadyDi
    December 23rd, 2008 at 9:39 pm

    C'MON PEOPLE!!! These are domestic pets...and these feline consuming barbarians need some kind of therapy as do many others here! Good God!

25. fsrhxdr
    December 26th, 2008 at 5:31 am

    I'm a Canadian currently teaching English in Korea.
    Haven't heard of anyone here eating cats, but several people have eaten dog.
    It's not a supermarket food, but some consider it a delicacy. Even non-eaters generally believe that eating dog can improve the health of the ill. It is also widely believed to improve sexual potency for males.
    Many Koreans get defensive when sensing criticism for this cultural practice, altho many Koreans are also personally opposed to the practice.
    Before coming to Korea, I had intended to try some dog stew. However, while riding in a train through the back-country, I saw many miserable dogs in small wire cages that were clearly eating-dogs. This turned me off completely.
    Another time I had a chance to visit a farm. There were a few dogs tied up, including a puppy. It seemed happy to see the farmer, jumping up and barking, but the farmer just kicked the puppy to get it to shut up.

    Dogs and cats may be animals and good source of protein, but they have been shaped over the millennia to have a special relationship with people. This bond taps into our caregiving instincts that are usually extended to children. A callousness to these animals may undermine our overall empathy. That is why, despite real exceptions, dogs and cats are not a source of food for the majority of people around the world, including those within Asia.

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