Did you know...(horror alert)

roughly 4 million cats are EATEN in asia each year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had no idea! This is so incredibly sad to me and I want to cry. I want to go adopt 4 million cats to save them.

 

Yeah, I understand and while it does seem quite tragic I guess it's hard for me to see too terribly much wrong with it. I had the same reaction as you when I heard this in my youth, but then in occurred to me that they are mammals the same as the cows, pigs, and chickens we consume over here. I mean imagine a place where cows are worshipped or kept as pets, we'd probably look awful to them with our sirloin and fillets mignon. XD

 

Eating cats is so utterly cruel. I love all the cats in the world so I obviously get sad when I read this kind of news. I really cannot understand at all people who are so heartless that they can actually kill a cat and then eat it. Cats are adorable animals, so in my opinion people who hurt cats are very bad people. Actually, I hate to see any animal being hurt, it does not matter if it is a cat or if it is a dog or any other animal, I just hate ut. This is probably because I love all sorts of animals. But I think it's even worse when it's a domestic animal, because people are supposed to have grown up with them and forged bonds with them.

 

This is pretty much how I see it, too.

Yes, I love my cats and I can't imagine ever eating one. But that's not how they're viewed over there, ya know?

 

They're not really viewed as pets and we can't really save them all. I am sure a lot of people feel that way about our burgers. Cows are considered sacred to some and we eat them all the time. We have to have an open mind and not judge.

 

I saw a video about a Chinese woman who runs a shelter for cats and it's kind of crowded and she doesn't have much funding or many allies, but she loves the cats and wants to save them. I bring this up to point out that not all Chinese people eat cats. There are some modern and forward thinking young Chinese people that would never eat a cat.

 

No one was implying that. I just had no idea cats were used as a viable food source!

 

Unfortunately cats and dogs are used as a food source in Asian countries but the younger generation is trying to move on from that.
Modern Korean people consider it a national embarrassment that dogs used to be used as food and now you see Koreans walking their dogs, taking their dogs to pet salons and treating their dogs as family members.
Some Korean animal rights protesters recently shut down a dogmeat festival.

Young people are the ones who usually change things and with the younger generation treating their cats and dogs as pampered pets, the practice of consuming cats and dogs will die out and just be something uncool their grandparents used to do.

 

This is to anyone who thinks it is OK to treat a cat like a cow or pig. Have you ever picked up a cat and cuddled, kissed, hugged or nuzzled him/her? I even hold hands with my cats. These animals cannot be compared to cows or pigs, and I will argue this until the day I die. There is a reason people have cats as pets and not cows or pigs. Cats need to be loved. The thought of eating a cat absolutely horrifies me.

 

Now that hardly seems "fair" or respectful to those who've had a cow or pig as a pet. Now we can argue cows aren't that smart in a lot of ways and all but pigs are quite intelligent actually. I've known friends who'be kept pigs as pets. The same for chickens and ducks, so how can we say it's okay to eat them and keep them as pets but not cats or dogs. I don't like it either and wouldn't do it. I support the move away from eating cats and dogs in other countries. However, there's no moral high ground if I'm willing to except people eat other animals. People, yes, completely different ordeal going on. I try to be respectful of other cultures and understanding in these matters. Now if in the Western world we started talking about no longer eating pigs, that changes matters.

 

Except people regularly have pigs as pets.... Are you not familiar with that, or is it just dismissed because it's not as common? People have horses as pets, too, and yet, they're quite regularly eaten in other cultures, too.

 

I was not familiar with having pigs as pets. Sorry. I guess I should have picked another animal like a buffalo that people do not have as pets because they are not the type of animal that will connect with a human. To be honest with you, there are times when I entertain the thought of becoming a vegetarian because I could not kill an animal of any kind, even for food. I guess I would eat berries off of a tree first or something.

 

It's not just cats, it's dogs and all other sorts of animals. Their population in huge and anything that has some meat on it is to be eaten. I don't think you can be upset that one life if taken away to be consumed and not another. I am a meat eater and I don't think it's fair to say one animal is okay to kill and not another.. Not that you would ever catch me eating cat or dog..

 

Actually I grew up on a farm and cows and pigs can be very affectionate. We even had a few pigs we considered as pets. My father would get angry at us if we named any of them. All animals feel and have emotion not just cats. I would never eat a cat because its not part of my culture and I love them to much but I won't judge other cultures for doing it.

To other cultures what we Americans eat can seem barbaric

Beth