Chinese trade in cats for meat
By jwfarrimond
@jwfarrimond (4473)
March 9, 2009 5:52am CST
There was a report on the TV this morning about the Chinese trade in cats for meat. This information came as no surprise to me knowing as I do of the appalling cruelty of the Chinese fur farms where cats and dogs are skinned alive. This report also made the point that many of the cats being sold for meat are stolen and this is the same as in the fur trade where reporters saw dogs still with collars on which were being sold for slaughter in the fur farms.
There is, apparently, no law in China against cruelty to animals. If this is true, Then China has no right to call itself civilised. Of course, there are people who will say that we eat cows, pigs and sheep so why not cats and dogs? My reply to these people is that those animals (at least in civilized countries) are farmed and protected by anti - cruelty laws.
That is not the case in China where animals have no protection from depraved, heartless people and where the trade is a criminal one of stolen animals. As far as I know, the Chinese government has done nothing to stop this illegal trade in stolen domestic pets (dogs as well as cats) The fur from these slaughtered domestic pets is either sold into the European and American market, or used for fur trim on garments made in China. But in both cases the fur is described as being rabbit or even as synthetic fur. This is also illegal and there should be more rigorous testing of fur products imported from China to make sure that they comply with domestic trade description laws.
This means of course, that if you are walking around wearing a fur trimmed garment, it's quite likely that the fur came from a cat or a dog that was most likely skinned alive. How does that make you feel?
1 person likes this
3 responses
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
10 Mar 09
Unfortunately I've known about this for about ten years or more. I remember seeing a PBS special about many years ago about the attitude people have had for cats down through the centuries, from being worshiped in Ancient Egypt to modern day. They showed outdoor markets all in various Asian countries (not just China)---and next to the produce and live chickens one could buy, they also had cages of cats for sale, and not as pets but for food. Eight years ago, when we had a LOT of cats (a problem my mother created) and we were adopting the cats out, my mother and I got three phone calls from local Chinese restaurants in our neighborhood...each said they could make us rich, and would send their delivery boys to our place to buy our cats...and again, not for pets but for food...and this was in OUR neighborhood here in America...lets put it this way...it's not always chicken in your chicken chow mein even in oriental restaurants here in America.
And yes, of course I know about the "fur" trade...I did a discussion about this and have written several articles about it as well for AC
@jwfarrimond (4473)
•
10 Mar 09
Hello Pye, I'm very aware of your long standing involvement with this issue and I was interested to see your response to this particular news item. I'm also aware that this is common practice in other oriental countries. Really though I've posted this in a attempt at raising awareness of this issue amongst those who are not so well informed as yourself. Unfortunately though it seems that quite often the response is either indifference or a "This is so upsetting, I don't want to think about it" attitude which really frustrates me.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
11 Mar 09
As you know I've done a lot of discussions trying to raise awareness in people. I'll often provide links to some of the horrendous videos about the cruelty to animals and many will respond they can't watch them. Well, I hate watching them as well, but not to is like trying to stick one's head in the sand and pretend these things aren't happening...to really understand what's happening, don't you think a person needs to see the videos to see what is really going on? I'm glad though since I watched the one video there at that link, that many chinese are disgusted with the cruelty going on in their own country and starting to give voice to it.
@twoey68 (13627)
• United States
11 Mar 09
It is horrible that they would treat animals this way...I've often thought of becoming vegetarian b/c I hate to think of what the animals have to go through just to end up on our plates. I really hope that China will change the way they do things over there and start treating their animals more as pets then food.
[b]~~AT PEACE WITHIN~~
**STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS**[/b]
@jwfarrimond (4473)
•
11 Mar 09
There are a lot of Chinese who do not like this either, but the Chinese government, who must make and enforce animal welfare laws, clearly have no intention of doing so and they pay little attention to public opinion either domestic or foreign.
This is not just China though, it is something that is common to most of the Asian countries like Vietnam and so on. I've not researched those countries in any detail though.
@xuanfenghui (4)
• China
10 Mar 09
Chinese people do eat dogs and some places in south of China such as Guangzhou eat cats but they skinned alive is not often. As a Chinese, I really hate that. I never eat dogs and cats, dogs and cats are human beings' good friends. Eating dogs and cats really makes me feel sick!
@jwfarrimond (4473)
•
10 Mar 09
Thanks for your response. I'm pleased to get the reaction of a Chinese to this issue which is really about the total lack of animal welfare laws in China and other oriental countries and not simply about the consumption of cats and dogs for food.
The fur trade is a separate issue, As as far as that is concerned, I'm afraid that it quite often happens that animals are skinned while still alive. In order to avoid damaging the skin, they are usually clubbed or strangled and they are quite often still alive when they are skinned.
