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Cat meat

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For meat eaten by cats, see cat food.

Cat meat or cat flesh, meat prepared from domestic cats for human consumption (versus a British usage referring to meat sold to cat owners in the days before packaged pet foods),[1][2] is varied in its acceptability as a food source in different parts of the world. Some countries have resorted to the consumption of cat meat in desperation during wartime or poverty, while others believe eating it will bring good luck or health and have longstanding methods of preparation. A number of cultures, as well as various religions, consider the consumption of cat meat to be taboo, for hygienic or humane reasons [citation needed].

Consumption of cat meat

In most cultures, eating cat meat is considered taboo, and it is condemned by many religions. Because cats are carnivorous, consumption of cat meat is not permissible under Jewish or Islamic dietary laws.[3]

Cats sold for meat alongside ducks

In Asia

In some parts of China, especially in the North, eating cats is considered taboo. Cats are seen as having souls, and thus the consumption of cat meat is sacrilegious. In southern China some people consider cat flesh a good warming food during winter months. The cat's stomach and intestines are eaten, as well as meat from the thighs, which are turned into meatballs served with soup. The head and the rest of the animal are thrown away. Organized cat-collectors in Nanjing's north-western suburb of Niti regularly ship cats to be used as food to the southern province of Guangdong.[4] On 26 January 2010 China launched its first draft proposal to protect the country's animals from maltreatment including a measure to jail people who eat cat or dog meat for up to 15 days.[5][6]

In Japan, cat meat was consumed until the end of Tokugawa period in the 19th century.[7]

In Korea, cat meat used to be boiled and made into a tonic as a folk remedy for neuralgia and arthritis, though the meat by itself is not customarily eaten.[8]

South America

Cat is not a regular menu item in Peru, but is used in such dishes as fricassee and stews most abundant in two specific sites in the country: the southern town of Chincha Alta (Ica Region, Afro-Peruvian mostly) and the north-central Andean town of Huari (Ancash Region). Primarily used by Afro-Peruvians. Cat cooking techniques are demonstrated every September during the festival of Saint Efigenia in a town of La Quebrada.[9] In Huari, cat is consumed as replacement for guinea pig, most used through all Peruvian Highlands. Huari born people are often known as mishicancas (from Ancash Quechua mishi kanka, grilled cat).

In Brazil, specifically in Rio de Janeiro, there are urban legends saying that some street-made barbecue is made of cat meat, which is called "churrasquinho de gato" (literally, cat barbecue). Such urban legends, referring to pie filling, kebabs, hamburgers, gyros, etc., are commonplace, with varying degrees of truth or ironic scorn at street vendors' quality to them. For example, the Moscow, Russia version of old called hot cakes "kitten pies", and has recently been modified to a sarcastic "buy 3 shawarma (Turkic gyros), collect 1 kitten" as Middle Eastern cuisine has displaced cakes to dominate fast food stalls.

Cat meat has been consumed in the city of Rosario (Argentina) in the middle of the economic crisis in 1996. As citizens of Rosario argued to the media, "It's not denigrating to eat cat, it keeps a child's stomach full."[10]

Europe

Cats are eaten in certain rural Swiss cultures;[11] the traditional recipe on farms in some regions involved cooking the cat with sprigs of thyme.[12] 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."[13]

Researchers have found recipes for "cat stew" and "cat in sauce" in the Basque Country in the Spanish province of Alava.[10]

In February 2010, the food writer Beppe Bigazzi on a televised cooking show mentioned that cat stew was a "succulent" and well known dish in his home area of Valdarno, Tuscany. Later he claimed he had been joking, but added that cats used to be eaten in the area, historically. Joke or not, Bigazzi was widely criticised in the media for his comments and ultimately dropped from the television network.[14]

Cats were sometimes eaten as a famine food during harsh winters, poor harvests, and wartime. Cat gained notoriety as "roof rabbit" in Central Europe's hard times during and between World War I and World War II.[15][16]

In 18th-century Britain, geeks were known to eat cats as a part of a grotesque form of live entertainment.[17]

Elsewhere

Indigenous Australians in the area of Alice Springs roast feral cats on an open fire. They have also developed recipes for cat stew. Some other inhabitants of the area have also taken up this custom, justified on the grounds that felines are "a serious threat to Australia's native fauna". Scientists warned that eating wild cats could expose humans to harmful bacteria and toxins.[18]

In some cultures of Cameroon, there is a special ceremony featuring cat-eating that is thought to bring good luck.[19]

Opposition to use of cats as food

With the increase of cats as pets in China, opposition towards the traditional use of cats for food has grown. In June 2006, approximately 40 activists stormed the Fangji Cat Meatball Restaurant, a restaurant specializing in cat meat in Shenzhen. They managed to force the restaurant to shut down and discontinue selling of cat meat.[20] 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 [sic] response from public."[21] In 2008, a series of incidents were broadcast by the media on the increased consumption of cat and dog meat in Guangdong areas.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Cat Feeding". petcareguides.org. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
  2. ^ "London Observed: John Galt - Cat's meat man on an East End street". Retrieved 2008-07-18. [dead link]
  3. ^ Sahih Muslim, 21:4752
  4. ^ Moore, Malcolm (2009-01-01). "Cat-nappers feed Cantonese taste for pet delicacy". London: Telegraph.
  5. ^ "China to jail people for up to 15 days who eat dog". Chinadaily. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
  6. ^ "Trung Quốc sắp sửa cấm ăn thịt chó, mèo". Template:Vi
  7. ^ Hanley, Susan (1997). Everyday Things in Pre-Modern Japan. p. 66.
  8. ^ "Campaigns - Dog and cat meat". Retrieved 2006-12-26.
  9. ^ "'Cat-eaters' take note - feline feast at Peru festival". planetark.com. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
  10. ^ a b Consuming the inedible: neglected dimensions of food choice.
  11. ^ "Utusan Express: Anyone for a hot dog? Going spare in Switzerland". jphpk.gov.my. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
  12. ^ Paterson, Tony (2008-04-25). "Switzerland finds a way to skin a cat for the fur trade and high fashion". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  13. ^ "Cats - Friend or Food?". messybeast.com. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  14. ^ Owen, Richard (February 16, 2010). "Celebrity chef Beppe Bigazzi upsets viewers with his cat casserole". London: The Times.
  15. ^ "Cats - Friend Or Food". Messybeast.com. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
  16. ^ "Cecil Sommers. Temporary Crusaders. 1919". Net.lib.byu.edu. 1917-11-24. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
  17. ^ ref name="The Cat Eaters">"The Cat Eaters". forteantimes.com. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
  18. ^ Mercer, Phil (2007-09-02). "Australians cook up wild cat stew". BBC News.
  19. ^ Ngwa-Niba, Francis (2003-03-17). "The cat eaters of Cameroon". BBC News.
  20. ^ "Animal rights protest shuts restaurant". Reuters. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
  21. ^ "Guangzhou bans eating snakes--ban helps cats". Reuters via animalpeoplenews.org. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
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