51 replies to this topic

[Mandrew968]

I recently read an article online, about a California man accused of killing and eating cats. Apparently, using animals commonly kept as pets or companions as food is against the law in California...

There are certain food items that I object to eating, ethically(turtles and tortoises as well as whales and dolphins), but I wouldn't force my ethics on another. I understand if a creature is endangered, they should be protected from hungry mouths, but cats and dogs are constantly being euthanized, around the world, due to there being too many of them. Asian countries eat some strange things--the French often eat horse meat(it's illegal to kill a horse for food in South Florida). With starvation becoming a more and more prevalent issue, in our growing global population, why would eating a cat(if it were humanely killed and no one is missing their pet)be against the law? I just thought this to be an interesting arguement--please let me say, I understand owning a pet and I am not saying it should be ok for another to take your pet and eat it--I advocate the protection of owner's pets. I am also aware that in the article, the alleged killings were not deemed humane. I am just condoning the right to eat any animal that is not protected or endangered--especially species that are overly populated.

Please post your thoughts on this subject. Thanks!


Read more: http://www.foxnews.c.../#ixzz1mYZRLAdX

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

It is a little weird but if he is not stealing someone's pet I guess it is OK. I don't think it is a good idea to eat predators, though. More better to eat herbivores.

Your question is about people eating animals, what about animals eating people? I mean, what is up with your avatar?

[Mandrew968]

It is a little weird but if he is not stealing someone's pet I guess it is OK. I don't think it is a good idea to eat predators, though. More better to eat herbivores.

Your question is about people eating animals, what about animals eating people? I mean, what is up with your avatar?

She is getting tickled by a polar bear--there should be a coca cola somewhere in the frame, I think.

[redant]

People eat plenty of deer, I certainly have, yet they seem to be a very nice pet as well, look and see dogs and deers living together in sin

Edited by redant, 17 February 2012 - 06:38 AM.

[Stevetoad]

i think it comes down to that people (not all) feel its not right to eat the animal that sleeps at the foot of your bed. i for one wouldnt want to eat a cat but i dont feel its my right to tell someone else what he or she cant eat. i dont eat tomatoes but im not going to try and out law them in california. like Andrew Zimmern says " if it looks good, eat it"

[Mandrew968]

i think it comes down to that people (not all) feel its not right to eat the animal that sleeps at the foot of your bed. i for one wouldnt want to eat a cat but i dont feel its my right to tell someone else what he or she cant eat. i dont eat tomatoes but im not going to try and out law them in california. like Andrew Zimmern says " if it looks good, eat it"

I agree with you Steve, except no animals are allowed in my house, let alone on my bed!

[kahili]

I think it comes down to the local "culture" in whats acceptable for dinner. In the US, cats are associated with being a pet much more than being a food source, so it would stand to reason for the majority in the US that cats would be off limits. I remember when I lived in Hawaii that the saying was that if you had a black dog, you should look out (protect)for it, for it as it was a popular source of food with filipinos, and that they were known to take them to eat them. I don't know if it was true, internet wasn't around back then, but I heard it from many different people. Just googled it, and found that its done not from starvation, but usually during alcohol events and that there is a certain "mana" that they think they get if they eat the black dog.
If I was raised in a culture that did that, I wouldn't think twice about it. They also cook the whole chicken-head and all (the head -and all its parts are considered a delicacy) and to me, that is something that I don't think I could get into-but it makes sense not to waste any part of the animal. Many Africans eat bugs that I don't think sound so tasty. I guess what is one person's pet is another person's meal. I just saw a video of some woman in Washington that started to eat squirrels consistently for meals....

[paulgila]

dogs are much better for you.

[Mandrew968]

I am glad I'm not the only one who thinks it absurd to persecute someone for their unusual palate.

[kahili]

I guess that I should maybe clarify that I wouldn't have been too happy had someone eaten Paco (the black dog that I had at the time). But I have a hard time believing that anyone doesn't understand/ accept that different cultures have different dinners....
Another difference is catfish. In the south, because its a bottom feeder, its considered really low on the delicacy scale. But in Hawaii where they are raised in ponds, its more expensive and desired than any fresh ocean fish, and only the most expensive restaurants offered it.. That was a surprise. I always heard the waiters trying to explain to tourists why it was so expensive-or why they even had it on the menu for that matter.

[Moose]

I guess that I should maybe clarify that I wouldn't have been too happy had someone eaten Paco (the black dog that I had at the time). But I have a hard time believing that anyone doesn't understand/ accept that different cultures have different dinners....
Another difference is catfish. In the south, because its a bottom feeder, its considered really low on the delicacy scale. But in Hawaii where they are raised in ponds, its more expensive and desired than any fresh ocean fish, and only the most expensive restaurants offered it.. That was a surprise. I always heard the waiters trying to explain to tourists why it was so expensive-or why they even had it on the menu for that matter.

Oh no.... the dreaded ....

LOL

Actually most catfish purchased from stores are farm raised on corn and has a very nice sweet delicate white meat IMO

[paulgila]

totally agree with you,kahili,despite the snarkiness of my post. indonesian people eat dogs,although that may change as more & more
people are starting to have them as pets. all the people i met who have eaten dog say it "makes you hot" or "makes the blood hot."

lobster was considered very low class food at one time & only poor people would eat it.

[kahili]

Really? Thats interesting about the lobster-are you talking about Maine lobster? If so, that surprises me because of the cost of having to fly it anywhere. I know when I was growing up we would drive up to Maine every summer and they would have shacks by the side of the rd and picnic tables outside and all they served was fresh lobster with butter. It was cheap, and taken for granted-but that was in Maine. California, or any other state far away, I would have thought because of the cost would have automatically made it a high cost item.

[Kim]

I thought this was an interesting question and googled "cat meat". On Wikipedia it says cat meat is considered taboo in several cultures, and in China, trade in cat meat is illegal, although it is still consumed in southern China. This was the most surprising quote, "In January 2004, Reuters reported that, "Swiss culinary traditions include puppies and kittens. Private consumption of cat and dog is permissible. Swiss animal welfare groups say it is hard to estimate how many pets are eaten in Switzerland every year." Who knew? With cat banned or out of favor in so many cultures, and the witness in the article Mandrew linked to describing the cooking meat as smelling "awful" leads me to believe it just tastes bad, and may have something to do with the feline diet? I'm just speculating... What other carnivores are consumed by humans? Alligator, snake, ? Most flesh eaten in the human diet comes from animals that feed on grains: beef, pork, chicken, turkey, and... squirrel! Anyway, interesting question, and I'd sooner go vegan than eat a cat.

[paulgila]

i am sure at one time in the history of humans we ate WHATEVER we could catch & only got pickier as the standard of living went up.

[kahili]

Kim, I am shocked that it's even somewhat acceptable to eat puppies and kittens in Switzerland . In any country, for that matter, where pets (dogs/cats) are the norm. I am not a big meat eater to begin with, but there is no way that I would ever eat a puppy/kitten. I could understand it in a country that did not that the luxury of having pets to the degree that the western world does, but in my house pets are definitely part of the family. Strange. Now I can't get the picture of the squirrel from the video out of my mind....she had skinned it and was going to fry it. It kind of looked like a piece of chicken.

[Kim]

To lighten the topic a bit, I enjoy it when animals are given human characteristics in videos.

[kahili]

That was really funny-I enjoyed it. Here is one that always moves me

[bgl]

Thankfully off topic in a major way - those two videos are really pretty special. The one that Kim posted, just outrageously funny and the one that Kahili posted, so incredibly powerful! Thanks!

Bo-Göran

[DoomsDave]

Hmm.

California Penal Code section 598b. Possession or sale for good of animal or carcass of animal traditionally or commonly kept as pet



(a) Every person is guilty of a misdemeanor who possesses, imports into, or exports from, this state, sells, buys, gives away, or accepts any carcass or part of any carcass of any animal traditionally or commonly kept as a pet or companion with the intent of using or having another person use any part of that carcass for food.

( Every person is guilty of a misdemeanor who possesses, imports into, or exports from, this state, sells, buys, gives away, or accepts any animal traditionally or commonly kept as a pet or companion with the intent of killing or having another person kill that animal for the purpose of using or having another person use any part of the animal for food.

© This section shall not be construed to interfere with the production, marketing, or disposal of any livestock, poultry, fish, shellfish, or any other agricultural commodity produced in this state. Nor shall this section be construed to interfere with the lawful killing of wildlife, or the lawful killing of any other animal under the laws of this state pertaining to game animals.

[kahili]

Sorry Mandrew for changing the topic somewhat-but I can't resist this last video....I just love this dog I think he is getting a reputation on youtube!

[Palm crazy]

How about Cat Bread.... click here..Cat Bread

It raining Cats and Dogs today!

Edited by Palm crazy, 17 February 2012 - 04:12 PM.

[DoomsDave]

It's basically a lot of sentimentality, plus a bit of bigotry, at least here in California.

We've also outlawed the slaughter of horses for meat as well. This is causing a problem because horses often now have no value, since many people can't afford to keep them. I recall that the price of hay more than doubled here in So Cal in a year, from $10 to $21 a bale, and we don't have a lot of pasture, either.

So, many people who can't keep their horses, and can't sell them, just turn them loose, where they often starve.

Unintended consequences.

[_Wal]

I suppose cannibals will be required to apply QA procedures next.

[Alan_Tampa]

Whenever I eat some kind of animal not on the "regular" menu for westerners, I always get a weird feeling in my gut. Deer meat, goat. Etc. Even duck. But people should eat what culture dictates and to pass laws regarding which animals are food and which are not, seems a little much. I have tried a lot of meats I would never have personally slaughtered, but usually stick to moo cows and chickens.

On an aside, while the porcine and bovine are avoided by some cultures, I have yet to find any that do not eat yard bird. Anyone know of a culture that does not munch on chicken?

Alan

[aussiearoids]

Kangaroo tastes very good and is fairly easy to obtain these days ,, also crocodile is popular at many tourist spots .. it is farmed for the skin and it would be a shame to waste good meat . .

[DoomsDave]

It we weren't supposed to eat animals, they wouldn't have been made of meat.

That Fox News article was full of omissions, I'm curious to see what happens.

[Mandrew968]

Really? Thats interesting about the lobster-are you talking about Maine lobster? If so, that surprises me because of the cost of having to fly it anywhere. I know when I was growing up we would drive up to Maine every summer and they would have shacks by the side of the rd and picnic tables outside and all they served was fresh lobster with butter. It was cheap, and taken for granted-but that was in Maine. California, or any other state far away, I would have thought because of the cost would have automatically made it a high cost item.

Lobster used to be a food eaten only by slaves and Pariah. Maine never had too many "slaves", being from the North and all... but in the Caribbean, spiny lobster was a poor people's food--Think about who was so brave as to initially eat a sea roach... By the time we had flying machines, the word was out about the tasty sea roach...

[kahili]

Huh...I guess I wasn't thinking about going back that far in time, was thinking early to mid 1900's. Also wasn't thinking about the Caribbean as a source. Really-I haven't a clue about the history of lobsters! But they do taste good, and I am sure that the slaves were glad to have a one up on their owners for once-let them think that they tasted like crap and keep them all to themselves. Unless you don't like them....


I was thinking also about foods that are acceptable in one's society that some in that society find repulsive. I have sworn that i will go to my death without ever eating an oyster-esp raw.

[Mandrew968]

Huh...I guess I wasn't thinking about going back that far in time, was thinking early to mid 1900's. Also wasn't thinking about the Caribbean as a source. Really-I haven't a clue about the history of lobsters! But they do taste good, and I am sure that the slaves were glad to have a one up on their owners for once-let them think that they tasted like crap and keep them all to themselves. Unless you don't like them....


I was thinking also about foods that are acceptable in one's society that some in that society find repulsive. I have sworn that i will go to my death without ever eating an oyster-esp raw.

Oysters on the half shell--EXCELLENT, but consistancy is not so great. I would never eat a fertilized hard boiled duck egg...

[sur4z]

I posted this in another thread...lots of meat to eat.

[paulgila]

i LOVE duck!

[buccaneers37]

I've heard that some cultures eat rat meat. I think I would have to be starving for quite a while to think about eating rat.

I just had 3 dozen oysters over the weekend. Fresh horseradish, a little Tabasco and a squeeze of lemon....... pure Heaven.

I eat tripe in my Pho. I actually kind of enjoy the slight crunchiness of it. One thing I don't think I could eat is chitterlings. I don't mind eating where the food goes in, but where it goes out is a different story!

When I first ate the Parrillada at the local Argentinian restaurant, I wasn't to keen on trying the sweet breads, but I don't too much mind them now. It reminds me of the fat on a fried pork chop. I just try not to think of what it really is when I'm eating it(the thymus gland or the pancreas). However I do love the their morcilla (blood sausage).

Andrew Zimmern eats some strange things in his travels that I don't think I could eat. Certain large bugs, spiders, snake hearts & bile, brains, worms, fertilized duck eggs. I think I am a pretty adventuresome person, but sometimes he grosses me out.

I'm getting hungry, I think I will go and get some "normal" lasagna & chicken parmesan from the Spagetti Warehouse.

[Gonzer]

I love cats!!! Taste just like chicken.

[palmmermaid]

If people want to kill and eat feral cats, go for it. Those cats kill millions of song birds here in this country every year.

I am not going toeat cats, dogs, rats, opossums, and certainly not horses! I do think if you eat meat, you should be able to kill it. It gives you an appreciation of the fact that you are taking a life. I'm not saying we should have to kill everything we eat. I am just saying we should realize what we are eating. Primitive people (not sure they are the primitives!) always said a prayer of thanks for the animal's life they took.

[Jeff Searle]

The other night on tv, I watched a program about some man that was extreamly cheap in his ways. He went to the local butcher store and bought two goat heads, boiled them when he got home and with some seasoning of course, and you guessed it, had them for dinner! His wife refused to eat them. Eyes and any meat he could scrape of the skull! Whoa.......!!!

[palmmermaid]

Jeff,

Souse or hoghead cheese is made from the parts of the hog's head and other body parts not typically eaten as standard cuts of meat. We ate crispy fried tripe growing up. Iy was yummy! And we had brains (any kind of brains) and eggs for breakfast. And liver and lights (lungs) were considered special. I ate all of the previously mentioned parts but drew the line at chitterlings. We used the instestines as sausage casings.

But I draw the line at horsemeat, cats, dogs, any insect in any stage, rats, opossums. But I will and have eaten fried squirrel, any kind of deer, any kind of wild bird, snake, frog legs, oysters and all other mollusks, goat, sheep, cows, pigs, alligator, iguana.

I did read soemthing interesting the other day - wish I could remember where. The article stated that there really aren't any true and complete herbivores. Even grazers eat bugs when muching on grass and leaves. Evidently they need certain enzymes that are only found in animals. I know B12 is not found in the plant world but must come from animal products.

[BigFrond]

Non-ordinary (American) meat I have eaten

deer
frog legs
eel
lamb
fish eyes
fertilized chicken eggs, duck eggs
all sort of mollusks
duck
squab
quail
krill

[Mandrew968]

Don't eat krill! All those shells are not good for your digestive track--kinda like eating a bag of glass shards.

[Moose]

Non-ordinary (American) meat I have eaten

deer
frog legs
eel
lamb
fish eyes
fertilized chicken eggs, duck eggs
all sort of mollusks
duck
squab
quail
krill

Eaten all except eel, fish eyes & krill. - Except giant Krill (Lobster!)

Buffalo (Bison) is delicious! Antelope is OK, kinda dry. Goat is good, especially curried. Rabbit is pretty good too.

Elk is good, Pheasant is great, Bear is greasy , Turtle is OK, Rattle Snake is not too bad.

In some South Florida neighborhoods, Sopa de Gato is a staple food.