Want Eat Cat, Mai?

[kman]

Saw on tv in the last week or so some people got busted for trucking in dog meat to BKK and selling it under the guise of beef.

I guess maybe once its covered in garlic and chillis you can't tell the difference.

Can you ??

[Azmit]

I like to eat horse meat, wich is very good and healthy, especially raw, and you find it in any supermarket here in Brussels. However an American would be sick at the thought of it : it's just cultural difference.

When Brigitte Bardot starts a campaign to ban dog meat in Korea, for me it's an act of cultural imperialism (I'd prefer a campaign to ban Brigitte Bardot...).

[ants6969]

We all have to respect our cultural extremes and try to adapt when away from home- I myself have eaten pussy on many occasions in the Land Of Smiles and to compare it to pig or rabbit- well! you guys must not be eating pussy in the right places, but the very thought of eating pussy back here in England fills me with absolute disgust and makes me feel possitively sick.

[zanemay]

My gf tells me that quality dog meat (young dog raised for the purpose, not strays) is eaten during the cold weather. That is anytime the mercury falls below 75F. They say you don't feel so cold. It sells at a premium during those times. I saw a photo a few weeks ago in newspaper of a butcher shop with three dressed out dogs skinned and hanging on meathooks. They looked good.

Zane

[CarlBkk]

Hua Ingu said:

"I would prefer people to eat domesticated animals above the disappearing wildlife in Thailand which is becoming increasingly popular especially among the ethnic chinese of the population. And then I don`t really care what kind of domesticated animal we are talking about. After all this is kind of the price they have to pay for being raised, fed and protected by man".

Not sure how you work this one out - animals can be domesticated for good reason (their character), they can be bred for good reason (their meat, herding instincts) and also exist as wildlife rarely domesticated or eaten (unless, as you say, by ethnics). To say that domesticated animals owe us for keeping them is braindead. We domesticate them for good reason, and eat other animals for good reason too.

As I said in a previous post, dogs and cats are very aware-most of us would much rather quickly kill a chicken or cow. The strays in Thailand don't exactly have a load of meat on them do they, and the average batch of chickens costs less than to feed dogs up to sell I'm sure.

Luckily there is a bit of compassion left in the world, whether it's for animals or humans (I believe the both are invariably linked) and some of us don't like seeing howling dogs packed into a cage in Korea ready to be beaten or stabbed in the throat in a knowing painful death. The Thai King has even recognised this for tourism and the civilised reputation of his country, so is fighting a hard battle of compromise.

Most of the Western world has recognised that cruelty and killing of these types of animals for unnecessary food when there are "more civilised" meals available is unacceptable. Times change, and people do become more civilised for different reasons - just as we no longer slice a pig's head off and put it on the table. Likewise, due to other countries taking note of RSPCA and international schemes they've begun to realise it's "old generation" living now.

To put the suffering and killing down to "culture" is pretty pathetic. If it was culturally acceptable to bear bait, shoot stags and hunt tigers for a posh snack then why aren't we still doing it legally? Things develop hopefully for the better - no witches are burnt now either! Europe is no saint...bullfighting and foxhunting are still old traditions that are called culture. Probably not for much longer though - not all culture is good and needs to be preserved.

T

[Azmit]

London Fun,

first, every body uses the word "civilized" according to his own values (culture).

You are shocked by bull fighting because London (or New York or most places) do not have a tradition of corrida. Maybe bulls or cocks would enjoy still less having their throat slit while restrained in a slaughterhouse, like all the animals we eat...

I am much more concerned about hunting endangered species, not for the individual animal, but because species are patrimony of the whole planet. In this case general interest should obviously prevail over local customs.

[CarlBkk]

"every body uses the word "civilized" according to his own values (culture)"

Some interesting points there: people may depict civilised in their own ways yes, but usually when we travel the locals we stay with will make extra effort to be more "civilised" in Western terms. I've seen many examples of this, from not spitting to not butchering an animal in front of you, to wearing different clothes. I believe they know what civilised and uncivilised is in a wider sense, well, that's what they portray anyway in my experience.

"You are shocked by bull fighting because London (or New York or most places) do not have a tradition of corrida"

No, people are shocked because they sense cruelty and needless butchering with little risk to the human life. Millions of people are equally shocked by foxhunting here, but are we used to it? If anything it's becoming so unpopular it'll be completely outlawed soon.

"Maybe bulls or cocks would enjoy still less having their throat slit while restrained in a slaughterhouse, like all the animals we eat..."

I very much doubt it! Which would you rather? A gang of men chasing you in an enclosed space with knives, stabbing you expecting to fall to your knees and give in to more blows, or an unknowingly quick death? Likewise hens...being carried by their legs for ages in the baking heat to have their necks cracked and plonked in boiling water..or to be in a queue in a slaughter house, electronically stunned and then throat slit? That is the purpose of slaughter houses...to make the length of time and the suffering involved from farm travel to freezer as short as possible. Usually the animals can't expect it, as if they do they might go beserk (horses and sheep especially), which is why they're killed out of view of the others.

"I am much more concerned about hunting endangered species"

Yep, valid point that - it is more worthy, but that's not to say boiling a common cat or monkey alive for a delicacy is ok. This is one of the rare few areas where I think a bit of westernisation is good :-)

[Guest]

Hi there,

I have had cat on 3 occasions here in Thailand already, and I must say, yes it tastes a lot like rabit.

There is one place in Sukhumvit Soi 101 that you can get it, can't remember the name, but its well worth a try. And don't give me that "sensitive animal" talk, its all in your mind.

Cheers

[ January 08, 2002: Message edited by: maddog ]

[Azmit]

Londonfun

I agree, I cannot stand the idea of an animal being boiled alive (except for lobsters...).

As for the hunting, survival instinct and adrenaline surge, in wich category I include fight as well, this happens all the time between animals themselves, predators chase preys, and it is not always a quick and painless death for the prey.

So I'm wondering if it makes a really big difference if it is a pack of lions (yes I know you don't have those in England) or a pack of British aristocrats to chase the fox...