Sina.com 2002: Should we eat cats? Expert says it is unsafe to do so

[Guest guest]

Anneleise: It is of enormous interest to us. Thanks so much! --Kim

 

>Hi Kim,

>We recently found an old article on Sina.com

>regarding the changing dynamics of cat eating in

>China and possible health concerns. It has been

>translated into English and I have attached it

>as we thought this might interest you.

>If you have any questions please just email me at any time.

>

>Best wishes,

>Anneleise Smillie

>Projects Coordinator

>Animals Asia Foundation

>Find out more about the historic " China Bear

>Rescue " as well as our new " Friends.... or

>Food? " campaign by visiting the Animals Asia

>Foundation website at http://www.animalsasia.org

>

>Attachment converted: Macintosh

>HD:sinanews_cat_eating_revised.doc (WDBN/MSWD)

>(000A4DF6)

 

Archive article translated from Sina.com website - 2002

 

" Should we eat cats? Expert says it is unsafe to do so. "

 

Is eating cats safe? Does cat meat pass through

certain testing before being sold to the public?

Head of the Guangzhou Animal Disease Control Mr

Fang said that by law any kind of meat needs to

be inspected before being distributed to

restaurants and hotels. Animals like pigs, cows

and lambs are transported to central slaughter

houses where inspection takes place, however cats

are slaughtered with nor regulations and

therefore there is no control over the origin and

the quality of the meat.

 

Mr Fang said cats are usually checked whether

they have rabies or parasites and that cats that

are imported outside of Guangzhou should all be

licensed. Guangzhou officials should check their

license, but do not monitor the exact import

figure and type of cats imported.

 

The problem is whether inspectors from other

cities have really checked these trucks importing

lambs, cats and dogs? Another factor, according

to Mr Fang, is that the main part of meat

inspection looks at the carcass (rather than the

whole live animal) to see if there are any signs

of ulcers and lymph or internal bleeding in the

organs to determine if they carry any disease.

Since some cats are slaughtered in restaurants,

inspectors cannot carry out the full check. Mr

Fang therefore concluded that he could not

promise that eating cats in restaurant is safe.

 

The Chairman of Guangdong Nutrition Association

and Jungshan University Faculty of Public Hygiene

Professor, Su Yi also said that eating cat is

very unsafe. First of all, she said, humans'

source of food comes from domesticated animals or

poultry, but that this doesn't include cats.

Because cats have never been seen as food, there

are no records in China or foreign countries

about the nutritional values of cat meat.

 

Domesticated cats in China, unlike cats in

foreign countries that are fed on cat food, eat

leftovers from their owners, or raw seafood and

mice. They have a very high probability of

getting parasites which can't be killed by heat.

Cats may also be susceptible to a form of mad cow

disease and hemorrhagic fever. Cats excrement

also contains a lot of disease and it can

contaminate cat's meat if slaughtered improperly.

Professor Su warns people not to eat cats because

it is not safe.

 

One might get mad cow disease from eating catŠ.

 

Information from Dongfang net on 7/18/2001: The

Swiss Veterinary Department announced that they

suspect one cat has contracted a disease similar

to mad cow disease and decided to euthanise it

and investigate. According to this information,

it is the first time Switzerland had found FSE,

but there are already 90 recorded cases in the UK

and this disease has similar symptoms with the

mad cow disease.

 

Miller said in an interview with a Switzerland TV

channel, FSE, similar to mad cow disease, can

seriously damage the brain nervous system, if

human eat cats, it is possible that they catch

the disease. He said " If we consume the cat's

brain we will definitely get the disease. " He

also persuades people to stop eating cats.

 

Even though the trigger for FSE is not clear,

Miller said cats may have eaten raw or

undercooked food that contains brain and spine.

 

Guangzhou people are gradually changing their eating habits

 

They once ate dragons and tigers (snakes and

cats), nowadays, they basically don't eat cats.

How should we view people who eat cats? Our

reporters interviewed the general manager of

Guangzhou restaurant group, Mr Liang Siching, who

has been a senior chef and the assistant general

manager Mr. He Jaojiang. on this matter.

 

The two dining experts explain that in the Linang

(Southern China area) food culture, people have a

history of eating many kinds of meat. As early as

Nanyue (A brief dynasty in Chinese history)

southern people who are called southern

barbarians had records of eating snakes, mice,

birds and some insects. So there is a saying that

Guangdong people eat anything that can fly except

airplanes and anything that stands with four

legs, except chairs, cat are of course one of the

many cuisines. A very famous Guangdong dish is

called " dragon, tiger and phoenix " which is a

stew of snake, cat and chicken.

 

The eating habits of Guangdong people are also

changing, before the Communist take over,

inflation was high and resources were scarce,

there seldom was meat like abalone, shark fins

and other expensive seafood and the choice of

meat was very limited, so more people would eat

" dragon, tiger and phoenix " . In the 60's and

70's, merchants who came for business also liked

this dish, so there were always cages of healthy,

pretty wild cats in the restaurants and during

the Cultural Revolution, there is hardly any meat

at all, so it was even more common for people to

eat cats.

 

As the society is changing, Guangdong cuisine has

a lot more variety because of the import of

seafood. In addition, people now have a better

sense of environmental conservation so basically

they no longer eat cats. Classy restaurants in

Guangzhou do not serve cats or " dragon, tiger and

phoenix " anymore. Even so, if a client asks for

it they will try their best to offer the dish.

Now only lower quality restaurant and hot pot

places offer cat meat so in this aspect people in

Guangzhou are more civilised than before.

 

--