Cat meat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cat meat is meat derived from cats. It is eaten sporadically in southern China and northern Vietnam where some people consider it a good warming food during winter months. The cat's stomach and intestines are eaten, as well as the thighs, which are turned into meatballs. The head and the rest of the animal are thrown away.[1] Cats are sometimes boiled and made into a tonic as a folk remedy for neuralgia and arthritis in Korea, though the meat by itself is not customarily eaten.[2]
With the rise of pet cat ownership in China, more people have become opposed to the traditional use of cat as food. In June 2006, approximately 40 animal activists stormed the Fangji Cat Meatball Restaurant, a local restaurant specializing in cat meat in Shenzhen, China. They managed to force the restaurant to shut down and discontinue its selling of cat meat.[3]
Those changes began about two years after the formation of the Chinese Companion Animal Protection Network, a networking project of Chinese Animal Protection Network. Expanded to more than 40 member societies, CCAPN in January 2006 began organizing well-publicized protests against dog and cat eating, starting in Guangzhou, following up in more than ten other cities "with very optimal response from public."[4]
Since January 2007, more than ten Chinese groups launched a joint online signing event against the consumption of cat and dog meat. The signers affirmed that they are willing to avoid eating cat and dog meat in the future. This online signing event received more than 42,000 signatures from the public and has been circulated by supporters all around the country.[5] Supporters of this online event also organized offline events in many cities, including several high profile performance-art shows.
Because cats are regarded as carnivorous animals, consumption of cat meat is not permissible under Jewish or Islamic dietary laws.[6]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ EastSouthWestNorth: The Shenzhen Cat Meatball Restaurant. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
- ^ Campaigns - Dog and cat meat. Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
- ^ Reuters: Animal rights protest shuts restaurant. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
- ^ Reuters: Guangzhou bans eating snakes--ban helps cats. Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
- ^ Reuters: Say no to cat dog meat. Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
- ^ Sahih Muslim 21:4752
- Cat meat photos
- Article about the sale of cat meat in South Korea
- Guangzhou bans eating snakes--ban helps cats(Animal People)
- Say no to cat dog meat(Apple Daily HK)
[edit] External links
- Website on cat meat in southern China
- Chinese Companion Animal Protection Network
- Chinese Animal Protection Network: Our work against consumption of cat dog meat (Microsoft Word document)
