Petition to help cats in China

[Kirsten]

I've started a petition when I've read in an article in the German magazine "Stern" (issue No. 17, April 2001)
about how cruel cats are treated in China. In some gourmet restaurants, you can order cats for dinner,
and the torture and pain they have to go through before they finally get killed is beyond words
(you can read more in the body of the petition).

So I've decided to start this petition to let the Chinese goverment know that I don't agree and to
ask them to stop this cruelty.

BTW, after I've set up the petition, I've read another article on this subject (in ödp-Journal, No. 88, Jan. 1999),
which is so disgusting and horrible that I'm not sure if I should post about it here... However, in some Chinese restaurants they
offer "Choi Dong Tsai" (Jumping meat). This is a kitten, shaped and getting its tail and paws chopped off,
thrown into hot oil - while it is still alive!!! With all due respect to a foreign culture and their eating habits,
I think this is just perverted and sick! (I haven't mentioned this in the petition because I've applied for it
BEFORE I've read this article).

So please, if you share my concern, please sign at http://www.petitionpetition.com/cgi/...on.cgi?id=1724 and spread the word!

To those who already signed:
(Please note that this is petition No. 2. I've asked to delete the original one on Saturday because I wanted
to add a few lines directly adressed to the Chinese government to the body of the petition and since I couldn't edit
the text once the petition started, I've made a second one - this one. The first one will probably be deleted,
so if you've already signed there, it would be nice if you could sign this one, too. I'm sorry
for the inconvenience.)

Thank you very much!

Kirsten



BTW, if you would like to link to this petition from your own website, you can use the following
html code:

<p align="center"><a href="http://www.petitionpetition.com/cgi/petition.cgi?id=1724 target="blank">
<img src="http://home.t-online.de/home/0554132997/petition.jpg"></a></p>

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www.lunas-little-world.de.vu
www.cats-in-the-net.de.vu
www.pet-cemetery.de.vu

[Kirsten]

That's so disgusting, Spencer, I'm sorry that this happened to you! Must have been a horrible experience for both you and your cat!

Kirsten

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www.lunas-little-world.de.vu
www.cats-in-the-net.de.vu
www.pet-cemetery.de.vu

[tatsxxx11]

Spencer, I remember 60 Minutes doing a lengthy piece about the use of "real fur" on toys and stuffed animals a while back. Sorry you had this experience. Disgusting.

[Gina]

Did anyone read the other animal rights petitions on that site?....I'm sick to my stomach. I signed a good few, until I couldn't read anymore.

Btw: the button posted above won't come right on my web page. I tried everything, I have designed four pages so far so I'm able, but it's just not working. Iused "Frontpage". Any ideas?

[Gina]

Ok, one other thing, you're probably not going to like me much after this, but, sure here goes:

My thoughts;
Some people don't eat meat, some people eat meat. I eat meat. Cows included. Freedom of choice.
Cows are sacred animals in India, I wonder do they hate me and my kind? This is an example. What I'm trying to say is this- If the Chinese eat cats or dogs it is their social conditioning, they probably don't see anything wrong, even though I do. If I do, that is my social conditioning. It is not the eating of the animal that is the problem, it is a fact of life, although personally I find it abhorent(isn't that a double standard?). It is the cruelty endured by the animal that really gets me. I just can't go the torture:- I don't get it. Why? You know my heart bleeds for them, whether they be cats horses, cows, you name it, in any country including my own.... I have absolutley no comprehension of the "why?" of it. What more can I say?

I don't expect anyone to agree, and I'm not going to argue my stance with anyone, I just wanted to say how I see it! Please don't take offence, it is not meant. I too personise my babies, give them names, baby them, run to the vet and would die if anything happened to them, and am so glad that I don't live in China, or India for that matter!

>^..^< !

[4 feline house]

I'm not taking a stance either, but when I first saw this topic, I somehow thought of lobsters.

[Kirsten]

Gina, I can totally see your point, I've even thought about it before I started the petition. Personally I don't eat meat because I don't want an animal to die for me. I also find it digusting what happens in the slaughterhouses or in the medical labs in MY country. But when I read this article about the cats, I couldn't get it out of my thoughts anymore. Maybe it's because I like cats so much, or maybe because the pictures in it where so heartbreaking, I don't know. I think I wouldn't even have such a big problem with the Chinese eating cats if they wouldn't treat them so bad BEFORE they are killed, it breaks my heart to even think about it.
4 feline house, you're also right about the lobsters, this is something I find totally disgusting and unnecessary, too.

BTW, Gina, no idea why it isn't working with the html code, it's working for me... But I don't have any experiences with "Frontpage", I'm building my sites by working with html scripts only...

Kirsten

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www.lunas-little-world.de.vu
www.cats-in-the-net.de.vu
www.pet-cemetery.de.vu

[kachuma]

I wanted to strengthen Gina's point. We cannot hierarchally rank animals according to cuteness and decide that those animals that are cutest we will not eat and no other should eat. It is also a lost cause to try to turn the world vegetarian. The emphasis should definitely be placed on the amount of suffering the animal goes through before he is killed and how he is killed.
I was worried when I did not have a strong reaction to the Hoof and Mouth slaughter that is taking place in Great Britain. Then I realized I didn't see it as any different than the slaughter that is taking place around the world every day for our evening meal. In both situations it should be done as humanely as possible. I personally am not a vegetarian for I did not know how to draw the line (animal by-products and so forth) I do eat very little meat once every month or two months, because I think people eat meat in excess (some people every day!) and I do make an effort to find animal products which caused less suffering, for example, I don't eat goose liver and I buy eggs which are from free-range chickens and cruelty free cosmetics.
I am interested to hear other opinions on this for I am still forming my own.

[kachuma]

Some other really good reasons to cut down!

[4 feline house]

I wholeheartedly agree with Kachuma on two points: Animals cannot be hierarched (is that a word?) and HUMANE is the key word. I eat meat, and I enjoy eating meat. Man is an omnivore, and a vegan diet is unnatural and difficult for most people to maintain successfully.

However, as someone who lacks only a semester in completing a degree in dietetics, I must clarify I few things in Spencer's post. Most Americans are overweight because they do not get enough exercise and eat too much junk food, fried food and highly refined carbohydrates. If we would take a walk everyday and cut out the ice cream, potato chips, hamburger helper, and Kentucky Fried Chicken there would be a massive amount of weight lost amongst us. The same factors, as well as a hefty dose of pure genetics, cause most high cholesterol problems. And diabetes either a) has no known cause as of yet but is closely (but not absolutely) linked to excess weight and age (type 2) which, once again, have more to do with the lack of exercise and a refined, fatty diet, or b) is an autoimmune disease caused when the islet cells on the pancreas are destroyed by misguided antibodies, and has absolutely nothing to do with weight, age or diet (type 1).

Whether or not to be a vegetarian or a vegan is a very personal matter, with alot of reasons being determining factors. But eating meat, within moderation, is not unnatural nor unhealthy for man.

And, no, I do not work for the Cattle Ranchers Association of Texas.

[AdoreMyDogs]

I don't know why it's OK to eat a lamb, cow, baby cow, chicken etc and not eat cats or dogs. I don't eat any animal, nor do I care to eat any animal, but why is it OK to put a cow or a chicken through a hellish life, cramped in unlivable conditions, cut off it's beak, feet, or cram it into a stall so small that it can't turn around, back up or lye down for it's short life then slaughter it, and sell it as food but it's not OK to eat a dog or cat. I understand that it's shocking that anyone would eat a cat, but I find it shocking that people eat other animals that had the most horrendous life prior to being slaughtered...a life so bad that slaughter is a blessing.

Sorry to ruffle feathers, but I think all animals have feelings, not just cats & dogs. I am not putting down any individual for eating meat, most of my friends, and most of my family eat meat but I am ashamed that the USA as a country would allow such horrible quarters for any food animal. If the animals were treated as respectfully as many of the organic free range animals are treated it would be more shocking to me that cats are eaten.

[pam_pesto]

I am not passing judgement on anyone, but more and more I am unable to eat animals of any sort. Starting when I was 16 I stopped eating red meat. So that eliminated cows, pigs, sheep and so on. Now, 5 years later I am having trouble stomaching the idea of eating birds too. I have told my husband that once we finish the chicken/turkey in our chest freezer I will not eat it any more. The idea of eating a dead creature is really starting to disgust me. I mean, think about road kill. We wouldn't eat road kill! I am OK with fish for now, but that probably won't last. I just can't do it anymore. My problem with it partly has to do with the human imperialist roots to meat-eating. I am sorry if I have offended anyone. My husband still eats all kinds of meat. I just can't do it myself.

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Personal servant for Pesto
http://www.angelfire.com/80s/pestoswitzer/main.html
http://www.angelfire.com/pq/coolcatclub/main.html

[margaret]

I also have a difficult time eating meat because of the revulsion of eating a dead animal and because I feel guilty contributing to the meat-processing industry. BUT I do eat chicken regularly! I would like to stop being a hypocrite and eliminate meat from my diet completely. However, if I take such steps, logic tells me that I should really go all the way and avoid all animal by-products (leather, dairy, chicken broth, etc.)as well. Kachuma expressed my dilemma perfectly by writing, "I'm not a vegetarian/vegan because I don't know how to draw the line". I guess I'd have to read some of the vegan promotional literature or take a class! Becoming a vegan is a really a tricky issue and I believe it takes a lot of careful thought, determination, and a thorough understanding of how to do it right.

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~Margaret

[4 feline house]

I think Spencer's post has the key word for most people in this controversy: COMPANION. Most people consider cats, dogs, horses, guinea pigs, etc. to be friends since they recognize their owners and exhibit affection towards them. Far fewer people put cows, pigs, chickens, etc. in this category. And that's probably why most animals fall on one side of the don't eat line while some fall on the other. Again, it falls down to a personal choice for each person, depending on where they draw that line. Disgust with inhumane conditions causes alot of people to draw that line in a difference place than they might normally.

[sammi]

I DON'T want to get into religion but as far as what animals are to be eaten for those that beleive in the bible it is stated somewhere what types of animals should and should not be eaten I believe. This might be where some of choices of what meat we feel is accepted to eat comes from.