Cat lovers in China are protesting China's cat meat industry. You red that right: cat meat industry. Apparently, cats are a hot commodity and that's not because people want them for pets:
On Monday, the Southern Metropolis Daily — a Guangdong paper famous for its exposes and aggressive reporting — ran a story that said about 1,000 cats were transported by train to Guangdong each day.
The animals came from Nanjing, a major trading hub for cats, the newspaper said. They were brought to market by dealers on motorcycles, crammed into wooden crates and sent to Guangdong on trains. A photo showed a cat with green eyes peering from a crowded crate.
Some people in Nanjing spend their days "fishing for cats," often stealing pets, the report said. One cat owner in Guanghzou said people are afraid to let their pets leave the house for fear they will get nabbed.
And what are the cats for?
"There's a famous soup called 'Dragon, Tiger and Phoenix,'" Zhu said. "It involves cooking snake, cat and chicken together. In winter more people eat cats as they believe it's extra nutritious."
What's the difference between eating cat and eating veal, chicken, fish, cow, etc? Nothing.
> 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.
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.
The part i can't stand is the passing off of this meat as other animals... if i want beef it better be beef.
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.
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.
Kinda sad to see the holier-than-thous go on about "cats are the same as humans". No. They're not. Duh.
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.