This Might Offend Some People.....Pet lovers protest cats on the menu in China

[Medusa]

Question: What makes a cat's life any more valuable than that of a cow or a chicken?

I think it isn't so much a value judgment as it is a cultural one. Also, I've read that they skin the cats and then boil them alive. That's barbaric and should be outlawed, whether or not it's their culture to eat them. Cats and dogs are domesticated and have become pets and, to some, even family members. That isn't the case w/cow and chickens.

[CathyBogart]

People keep cattle and chickens as pets too. Of course any creature should be treated humanely, but that doesn't seem to be the issue up for debate in this article.

If I'm going to object to people eating humanely killed cats, I think I should object just as strongly to people eating humanely killed hens or cattle or pigs. None of these animals are "better" than any other, none more or less deserving of life.

[Medusa]

Apparently, some of the cats were being "rounded up", stolen, and these were people's pets that were being stolen. I'd be upset, too, if someone stole my pet whether to eat them or keep them.

[Giselle]

IF the cats come from legitimate farms and are NOT pets nor strays and are raised/killed humanely, what would the issue be? Would the issue simply be a conflict of cultural values? Naturally, Chinese farms are not humane, but I've seen pigs and chickens in worse conditions and killed in worse manners than farmed cats and dogs. Why isn't anybody fighting for those animals? Just some questions.

I do think the primary issue here is that Western culture abhors the consumption of traditionally "higher-level" animals, animals with larger cognitive capacities like cats and dogs vs. chickens. But it's a difficult thing to gauge when so much of our beliefs regarding these issues are socially and culturally based.

[caseysmom]

I totally agree with giselle on this and don't think its our place to force our cultural norms on another country. I would hope animals would be kept humanely and killed humanely everywhere, if you think the U.S. is any better read Fast Food Nation, it will disgust you.

[moosmom]

This subject is making me ill. I totally agree with Medusa, though.

[Twisterdog]

I do not believe ANY animal should be tortured. I don't care if it's a cat, a chicken, a fish, a cow ... treat it humanely while it is alive. Humans are omnivores by nature, most of us eat meat. I think all animals killed for food ought to be treated decently while alive, and killed quickly and humanely.

However, I think it is vastly hypocritical for people to say that killing and eating a cat or a dog is a ghastly, terrible thing ... when they had bacon for breakfast, a chicken sandwich for lunch, and a steak for dinner. Is that cat or dog's life inherently more valuable than than the pig's, the chicken's or the cow's? I think not. Do American slaughter houses kill livestock more humanely that those cats and dogs were killed? Probably not.

All animals feel pain and fear, regardless of species. My aunt and uncle had a pet pig once. He was housetrained, slept by their bed, rode in their van, walked on a leash, and knew dozens of adorable tricks. He was sweet and loving and smart ... very much like a dog. My grandma had a pet chicken for many, many years. That chicken loved my grandma, I have no doubt, and it was as tame, sweet and cuddly as any cat. So why do so many people think it's perfectly fine to slaughter a pig or chicken, but doing the same thing to a dog or cat is wrong?

Americans are quick to criticize other countries who consume cats, dogs or horses. There are countries who feel that Americans eating cows is the same abomination. What makes "us" right, and "them" wrong?

Furthermore, do we, as Americans, have any room to criticize any country's treatment of animals, such as cats and dogs, while hundreds of thousands of these same creatures are starving on our streets or being gassed in our animal control facilities and shelters every year? We are the richest country in the world, and untold thousands of pets die here every year ... not for food, but thrown out with the garbage, for the simple reason that a geat number of Americans are lazy, stupid and greedy. We need to be careful of the rocks we throw, while living in that glass house.