China proposes law to ban eating cats and dogs

[Irishman]

I read the following article - China proposes law to ban eating cats and dogs on China Hush and it provoked some thoughts, I'm curious as to what you all think about this?

First off, here is my opinion - when I drive home in my car i probably squash and kill countless bugs flying and walking. I hit a deer a couple of winters ago and that was pretty messy. Regularly I come across fox remains splattered across the road, once a sheep and that was real messy (I live in the mountains).
Heck every time I wash my hands, every time I have a shower, every time i wash my clothes , every time I fight off a cold or sickness i am murdering innocent little life forms by the millions!

But those are mostly accidental, but does killing bugs , deer, pheasants, rabbits and a cat stop me from driving?, would it stop anyone else?, very few i would wager.
I enjoy a burger, a steak (done rare preferably), a chicken breast, turkey for christmas, sausages and rashers for breakfast. Am i a monster?
Then most westerners are.

Pigs are allegedly one of the more intelligent farmyard animals and yet we eat them up just fine, with ketchup on top .

We don't keep pigs or cats as pets though and they are not as cute. Though my girlfriend calls me her pink "ju ju" (thats how she says it - means piggie she tells me) which is a term of endearment in China apparently, I think she is really saying I'm a tubby but I digress.

Are dogs or cats any different to cows or pigs, small birds are brainless ok but pigs and cows?

In France eating horse meat is normal but here in Ireland its banned..again just because its a pet people, seem to sentimentalise it and make it human. I had horse and pony several times in China and it was nice.

I did have dog before in Guangzhou and it was very nice, a distinct flavour and a good one, I haven't had cat yet but as far as I'm concerned I don't see why I shouldn't try it. A cat is no more special than a cow or a pig so why should I feel guilty about eating one?, sure they are cute but they are no smarter, feel no special emotions than a cow or pig would.

In my opinion if you ban cats and dogs you might as well ban birds, cows, pigs, fish etc etc as well.

Thoughts?

[David S]

I'm kind of in your camp.  I might not eat it but if others want to eat it and it doesn't make you sick or harm you then why not.  I remember hearing a talk show a few years ago that they were supporting a ban on exporting horses from the us. (To Australia I think.)  Because the people there were going to eat them.  Eating horse meat I guess is banned in the US but these people were exporting them and the people on the other end were eating them.  I am generally a libertarian, so if I raise a few horses and can get a better price selling them for food then for other things then who are you to stop me?  Ok, I'm a capitalist too. LOL

All I ask is that you are fair when you tell me what I'm eating.  I don't want to order chicken then find out it was some other mystery meat.  Just tell me up front if it's dog, cat, or some other exotic animal.

I've always been curious what this dog meat tastes like, do different breads of dogs have different flavors?  ( or do they all taste like chicken?)  I have a theory, not much support for it in the scientific community but it makes sense to me.  When they were creating the animals and putting flavor in the various animals like the beef flavor in the cows, the pork flavor in the pigs.. etc they got to the animals that we generally weren't going to eat.  One of the angels went and asked God if he wanted any flavoring in them.  God said; "Well we have all that chicken flavoring in the warehouse, why not put some of that in them?"

[rockycoon]

I have no problem with beef, pork or chicken (except the chickens I raise).  But dog and cat is somthing else.  first let me stand up for the dog.  Dog was created to help man, be his best friend, guard him, protect him, and at times be his fire alarm and a few other things.  He was not created to be eaten.  The cat is for catching rodents and keeping the mice and rats at bay, and makes a great bed warmer (also doesn't give a shit about anything).  However, cat is stringy (so I've been told) and therefor not good to eat.  The horse is a beast of burden (try convinsing mine about that).  You can eat him, but you won't get your field plowed, or a car pulled out of a ditch, and it really sucks trying to saddle a cow or pig.  Some horses as above are considered pets and become best friends.  You wouldn't eat your best friend..(well some anyway)
So I guess what I am trying to say is Dogs, cats, horses are taboo, everything else is fair game right down to the crickets and chockalot ants in Japan.  Some of you may feel different, I can't say, but for me, I have a ranch and my dogs perform a service, the cats perform a service and the horse performs (when he wants to) a service.  So why eat them or even think of it.  You wouldn't eat your car would you.

[David S]

I've been trying to watch some of the documentary series "CHINA RISES" and the one I saw about the food situation in China had a comment from a chef; "If it swims, flies in the sky, or walks the earth with it's back to the sun it is ok to eat." This would include all forms of crawly things like scorpions, and beetles (not Beatles which would be limited to John, Paul, George and Ringo. hee hee)  I'm not sure that spiders would count since they tend to crawl in almost any position imaginable.

On a side note, I've found the two episodes of this documentary series very interesting.

[David E]

I had the privilege some years ago of an interaction with some REAL Australian Aborigines who still lived their traditional life in the Australian Outback.

They were basically Hunter Gatherers....a remnant of a Stone Age Culture.

Boy...they would eat ANYTHING, because their life was primarily concerned with getting enough food to see them through today...never mind tomorrow !!!

Their environment is ultra-hostile and Westerners like me would survive about 24 hours if we were left on our own.

The point I make, is that civilisation gives us the choice to decide what food we eat, and we can add or subtract many animals from our diet based on what social, cultural, religious or personal views we hold. For these Abbos, that choice has been removed in their battle to stay alive.

In reality, if push came to shove we also would eat anything, it is only cultural taboos that give us the softies about certain foods, because we can easily find substitutes.

If you horse, dog or cat was the only thing left between you and starvation..................??

David

[Scottish_Rob]

David your 'dead on' there...

Starve or eat your mutt, it may sound revolting but until your in that situation, then who knows???

Maybe a little of track here, but remember the plane crash, when the survivors ate the bodies of their friends etc...to SURVIVE

[Voiceroveip]

I think it's all to do with culture and upbringing. Ren deer are beasts of burden yet they are eaten by those who raise them. Some dogs in China are bred for fur and food, others to be pets, we eat pig and cow even though a pig can be a smarter pet than a dog, the French eat horses even though they ride them ... I guess it depends on our individual sensibilities conditioned by the fact that we are usually at the top of the food chain.

[ttwjr32]

i think it will still happen here. just a pr thing by the govt to
have a better veiw of china? because many frown upon this?
maybe?

[Cam]

Lets face it; nothing tastes as good as panda or dolphin........... but on a serious note the dogs they eat here are bred for just that purpose, I've only ever seen it for sale in the central west and have heaps of pictures of raw & cooked dog, never seen cat that I'm aware of.
Saw it first in Nanning and then in BeiBei but if they want to eat it good luck to them.
A few years ago it was illegal to sell kangaroo for human consumption in Aus but thousandsds were shot every week for the pet industry, I've shot hundreds of roo's to feed my dogs when I lived out in the middle of nowhere in the past & apart from a few stupid greenies no one had a problem with it, the country is over run with them & they finally woke up to that fact that if the meat tastes good and people want to eat it then they should have the right to do so.

[Willy The Londoner]

Starve or eat your mutt, it may sound revolting but until your in that situation, then who knows???

I will remember that if we are short of food and you ever get to make that visit to us Mutt - oopps sorry I mean Rob. LOL

Willy

[Vince G]

when I drive home in my car i probably squash and kill countless bugs flying and walking. I hit a deer a couple of winters ago and that was pretty messy. Regularly I come across fox remains splattered across the road, once a sheep and that was real messy

That's because you guys drive on the wrong side of the street? By the way can any tell me why (I do Know)?

Back to the trend, Most other countries eat things that another doesn't seem fit. I just see it that way.

[Chong]

Here in Kaiping [ and Taishan district ], dog and cat are very popular. As a poster above stated, a particular breed of dog is farm/raised for this purpose. They even eat puppies. Cat meat is eaten mostly during the cold months in the form of soup ... or stirfried with snake. On a visit to the 1920's built "Diaolous", there were wooden 'cat cages' in kitchens. So obviously, there's history with this food source. How they prepare cat is as follows ... they are taken out of the cage by neck clamps, drown, boiled, de-skin , chopped.

Having own cats as pets before, I personally wouldn't eat it. They're cute and have their own personalities.

In the Kaiping outdoor markets here, there are cats in cages meowing and cats roaming freely to catch mice. It's the luck of the cat straw.

In a fictional movie, the one eyed "Cyclops" ate humans. How would you feel being a food source If outer space aliens started coming to earth and eat humans as a food source, how would you feel We have guns to counterattack our enemies ... but a cat is defenceless.

[rockycoon]

I think I'm gonna be sick...:icon_mrgreen::icon_eek:


There will be a short intermission while Don runs to the bathroom....

[victor-hills]

No bugger is eating my dog lol,but on the other hand if your poor and cant aford difrent meat to cat and dog i understand that,but this day and age its choices if you want to eat cat or dog so i say leave mans best freinds alone.

[Scottish_Rob]

Same sort of story with the TV programme 'V'.  Aliens taking over the planet to feed their population