Katzenfleisch

Cat meat or cat flesh is meat derived from cats. It is eaten sporadically in southern China, northern Vietnam, Peru and Switzerland; cat has also been eaten in Britain. During wartime rationing, cats found their way into "rabbit" stews/pies and hence earned themselves the nickname "roof-rabbit".

It should not be confused with a British usage of cat meat referring to the meat sold by a cat-meat man or cat's meat man, a person who sold skewers of horsemeat and beef to cat owners in the days before packaged pet foods. Meat from (rather than for) a cat would more usually be termed cat flesh.

Consumption of cat meat

In southern China and northern Vietnam some people consider cat flesh a good warming food during winter months. The cat's stomach and intestines are eaten, as well as the thighs, which are turned into meatballs. The head and the rest of the animal are thrown away. Organized cat-nappers in Nanjing's north-western suburb of Pukuo regularly ship cats to be used as food to the southern province of Guangdong where felines have become scarce due to their use as food.

Cats are sometimes boiled (alive)Vorlage:Fact and made into a tonic as a folk remedy for neuralgia and arthritis in Korea, though the meat by itself is not customarily eaten.

Cat is a regular menu item in Peru and is used in such dishes as fricasse and stews. Cat cooking techniques are demonstrated every September during the festival of Saint Efigenia in a town of La Quebrada.

In Europe, cats are eaten in some rural parts of Switzerland; the traditional recipe on farms in some regions involved cooking the cat with sprigs of thyme. Inhabitants of Northern Italy, particularly those of Vicenza, are still nicknamed "mangiagati" ('cat eaters') as a derogatory term in Venetian.

Australian Aborigines in the area of Alice Springs have developed the custom of eating the cats introduced into the region by European settlers, roasting the cats on open fire and considering the dish delicious. Some other inhabitants of the area have also taken up this custom, justified on the grounds that felines are "a serious threats to Australia's native fauna". The idea is, however, very controversial in Australia, and scientists warned that eating wild cats could expose man to harmful bacteria and toxins.

Because cats are regarded as carnivorous animals, consumption of cat meat is not permissible under Jewish or Islamic dietary laws.

Opposition of cats as food

With the rise of pet cat ownership in China, opposition towards the traditional use of cat as food grew. In June 2006, approximately 40 animal activists stormed the Fangji Cat Meatball Restaurant, a local restaurant specializing in cat meat in Shenzhen, China. They managed to force the restaurant to shut down and discontinue its selling of cat meat.

Those changes began about two years after the formation of the Chinese Companion Animal Protection Network, a networking project of Chinese Animal Protection Network. Expanded to more than 40 member societies, CCAPN in January 2006 began organizing well-publicized protests against dog and cat eating, starting in Guangzhou, following up in more than ten other cities "with very optimal response from public." In 2008 a series of incidents have been broadcasted by the media on the increase consumption of cat and dog meat in Guangdong areas.

See also

• Dog meat
• Cantonese cuisine
• List of meat animals
• Taboo food and drink

External links

• Website on cat meat in southern China
• Chinese Companion Animal Protection Network
• Chinese Animal Protection Network: Our work against consumption of cat dog meat (Microsoft Word document)