China May Ban Eating Dogs And Cats

[mumof3]

The meat I eat has been selected from a butcher after travelling 1 hour (bunburyWA). His meat (beef and lamb) is from his father's property where the animals are allowed to graze happily and without hormones (yes, most farmers in Austraia now use hormones in their animals). The animals are killed on the farm without stress. Not only am I eating animals that have not been traumatized/stressed but ironically I am also eating beautiful tender meat.

I think this is a fantastic idea, but also I think that it is largely marketing. I'd be sincerely interested to know how he manages to slaughter stress free. To me, stress free is happily grazing one moment, bullet through the head, dead on the ground the next (and this is how the kangaroo harvesting industry tries to operate). As far as I am aware this is not permissable for meat for sale in AUstralia due to our food safety laws. As far as I know, it is necessary to bring the meat to the abbattoir (even if it is just a small on farm abbattoir). At the abbattoir, the animal will become stressed because he can smell the death around him.

Secondly, stress causes meat to become less tender. Stress causes chemicals in the blood stream which cause the muscle tissue to become tough. For this reason large cattle handling and slaughtering facilities have invested millions of dollars in trying to minimise the stress to stock as they are killed. Producers also work on reducing stress from when cattle leave the paddock to when they arrive at the works by ensuring that they are handled quietly by competent staff, not left without food or water for too long, not hit or traumatised. Its all about the mighty $.

I have long hand in mind a business idea similar to the farmer you write about. I think organically grown, humanely slaughtered type meat has alot to offer, and many people are prepared to pay extra for added food safety, and greater ethics.

[mumof3]

I have very mixed feelings on all this. For about 15 years I was a vegetarian, mainly because I never looked a raw meat and thought mmmm yummy a nice steak for dinner. All I saw was lumps of raw meat rather than food so I gave up bothering. I eat it again now but only when the mood strikes.

From when I was 17 to about 25 I lived in Hong Kong, China and here in Australia in asian communities. I know I ate a lot of non-traditional animals including a lot of dog. Back then I was surrounded by strange food options, people who loved to eat those strange foods and conditions that saw what we might consider a pet treated as a commercial product. I commonly saw 'chow dogs' confined to boats and when they were at the right age the family would slaughter and eat them. I saw snakes and frogs killed in front of me, skinned, gutted and sold for cooking. I saw sharks fins and bears paws for sale in markets, I ate turtle from its huge upturned turtle shell, there were plastic containers on the dirty streets containing fish that had to swim on their sides to keep covered by the shallow water. The two worst was the whole fish dipped in boiling oil and served at our table still kicking (which I ate some of) and the live monkey whose skull was sliced off at the restaurant table so everyone could pick out and eat its brains while they were still 'live' (I did not participate in this but my chinese father in law at the time did).

I feel bad about all this being an animal lover but know that my asian experiences were really about me trying to desperatly fit in with everyone else. I was the only caucasian and foreigner amongst a myriad of locals and didn't know what else to do but eat what everone else did and try to ignore the conditions the animals were kept in. This kind of thing is not morally right in Australia but every other country has its own view on what is food and how it is treated. I was in Morocco 3 years back I ate camel several times and bought a camel belt. Some people would be horrified but camel is a regular food over there so I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary in that country.

I wouldn't eat any of these things out here - I don't even buy leather shoes. And I do care how my meat is killed here in Australia. Hence my mixed feelings on this issue in regards to other cultures and countries. I'm not sure I can tell them what they should and shouldn't do.

WOW! The monkey part is a bit much, isn't it! I'm sure (I hope) that your many experiences included some wonderful ones too, not just these horrid ones! Thanks for the interesting story.

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

we have nothing to be proud of. look at how we manage chicken farms - non free range and we dont protest at their treatment

look at how we intensively farm pigs - no protests there either

look at how we farm fish and screw the rest of the marine environment when we do this.

and lets also look at how we kill and slaughter those farmed animals....not the best trak record here either.

the saying "those in glass houses shouldnt throw stones" comes to mind.

unless we are all vegetarian we cant say boo...i am not a vegitarian today but i was for years.

the best i can do today is pay more for the meat i buy to ensure the best i can that it comes from an ethical source.

we cannot put our values and morals onto another countries citizens unless we are doing the right thing as well

[Longdog]

JB, I think that is what we are all saying....that "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones". And while we need to address a lot of farming practices here there is a lot more at stake for a person eating dog flesh killed in China than eating a cow killed in an abattoir in Australia (under health regulations).

POLITICAL Animal Lobby (PAL) Veterinarian Dr. Arturo Pangan Tuesday warned the public about the deadly diseases that may be transmitted through eating dog meat.

Pangan warned that eating dog meat might not only cause rabies. "Eating dog meat may cause anthrax, hepatitis, leptospirosis (through the urine), and internal parasites."

He added that vrucellosis, a virus that causes abortion in both human and animals, might also be contracted through eating dog meat, especially stray ones.

"However, the most dangerous are the E. Coli 107 virus and the salmonella virus, most common in contaminated meat," he said.

http://www.dogmeattrade.com/library_articl...y_dog_meat.html

Over and above the health issues, in Australia, we....the consumer, have a voice. I believe that by asking questions and sourcing my meat from an ethical producer I am reinforcing good practices. Yes, I am eating an animal that has died so I can eat it. But do we then look at whether we should be eating meat at all - are we herbivores or omnivores??? I know I would love to be a vegetarian but my body says no. At least this way, the little meat I do eat, I can eat knowing the animal has had a quality life, I am supporting a producer that endeavours to do the right thing and I get a better quality food.

[Longdog]

Mum of 3,

The butcher slaughters his animals on his own property in a small family operated business. Maybe I should modify my statement The animals are killed on the farm without stress to say the animals are killed with minimal stress. As you say, the less stress the animal is the better the meat. There is no doubt in my mind that the farmer cares for his animals. It is a family run business with Dad and son running the farm and the other two sons running the shop. They are borderline passionate about what they do....and yes, there is money involved BUT maybe that is what will drive for change with all farming practices. If we (the consumer) demand quality and ethical practices then other producers will follow. Yes, unfortunately it's all about the big $$$.

Good luck with your enterprise!!

[mumof3]

Thanks, longdog. The vertical integration of your butchers' enterprise would make a (possibly) otherwise unprofitable grazing property an important part of a profitable business. Those people who find a way of earning a good living doing something that they believe in are truly blessed. I love to hear their stories. I saw a story once about a similar, organic enterprise near Brisbane where people could come out from the city and see the cattle grazing happily and choose one, which was then sent to the local small slaughterhouse and slaughtered and butchered for them, as per their requirements. People had to buy a whole beast though, which is quite a bit of meat (it takes us about 4 months to eat one and we eat alot of beef), but a couple of families could share.

Bring back the small farmer, I say. The bloke with freerange chooks, who lets the pigs turn over the fields between crops, keeps his own bees, a handful of cattle and sheep and a field of pumkins or tomatoes or potatoes and a field of corn or barley. Rotational, permaculture systems with lots of love and care going into the mix. Gosh I'd love to do that.

[Longdog]

Mum of 3

Bring back the small farmer, I say. The bloke with freerange chooks, who lets the pigs turn over the fields between crops, keeps his own bees, a handful of cattle and sheep and a field of pumkins or tomatoes or potatoes and a field of corn or barley. Rotational, permaculture systems with lots of love and care going into the mix. Gosh I'd love to do that.

TOTALLY AGREE!!! I'm lucky I live in an area where I can source lots of home grown/organic/biodynamic produce and there are more and more freshproduce markets popping up around cities. A good sign of what the consumer wants....just hope the big boys don't squash them. Of course, we do have the battle of GM on our hands....now, don't get me started on that!!

[GardenofEden]

This disgusts me.

Are they going to ban skinning them alive for their fur aswell?????

I seen a doco once on how they were prepared for eating. I wont go in to detail but it is revolting. The dog dies a slow and painful death.

We (my neighbour and I - she is from Thailand) were only talking about this the other day.

Google "Dogs being skinned alive for fur" (PLEASE BE WARNED IT IS NOT PRETTY - DONT LOOK if youre like me and cant stand to see an animal suffer) it will also have info on them being eaten.

I was heavily pregnant when I did this, (3 yrs ago) I found it by accident whilst I was at work. I cried and cried everyday for weeks, feeling so helpless I was so far away and couldnt do any thing. I drove around with BOYCOTT BEIJING (Olympics) stickers on my car and signed that many petitions. (Not that it would help )

The cruel, horrendous conditions these animals are kept in, the sad, slow way they die. Tied to a pole, stabbed (a main artery near the groin/back leg?) and left to scream and struggle as they slowly bleed to death, then many are still alive as they are skinned for their fur and meat. :D :D

Oh and dogs are not only farmed, pets are also stolen for this purpose. :D

It IS disgusting and should be STOPPED.

I could never visit a market in China.

I could never visit China. If I were given a free holiday to visit that country I would refuse! Anyone that says "oh but we eat pork, beef, etc" miss an important point; we do not set out to cause the animal untold misery in the belief that the meat will taste better or be more tender. There is no excuse for what transpires in that horrid country. Lots of lovely chinese people here though. I just hope that those very people directly responsible for such atrocities and also those who know about it and eat such meat be made to die a horrid and very very painful death.

[GardenofEden]

I have very mixed feelings on all this. For about 15 years I was a vegetarian, mainly because I never looked a raw meat and thought mmmm yummy a nice steak for dinner. All I saw was lumps of raw meat rather than food so I gave up bothering. I eat it again now but only when the mood strikes.

From when I was 17 to about 25 I lived in Hong Kong, China and here in Australia in asian communities. I know I ate a lot of non-traditional animals including a lot of dog. Back then I was surrounded by strange food options, people who loved to eat those strange foods and conditions that saw what we might consider a pet treated as a commercial product. I commonly saw 'chow dogs' confined to boats and when they were at the right age the family would slaughter and eat them. I saw snakes and frogs killed in front of me, skinned, gutted and sold for cooking. I saw sharks fins and bears paws for sale in markets, I ate turtle from its huge upturned turtle shell, there were plastic containers on the dirty streets containing fish that had to swim on their sides to keep covered by the shallow water. The two worst was the whole fish dipped in boiling oil and served at our table still kicking (which I ate some of) and the live monkey whose skull was sliced off at the restaurant table so everyone could pick out and eat its brains while they were still 'live' (I did not participate in this but my chinese father in law at the time did).

I feel bad about all this being an animal lover but know that my asian experiences were really about me trying to desperatly fit in with everyone else. I was the only caucasian and foreigner amongst a myriad of locals and didn't know what else to do but eat what everone else did and try to ignore the conditions the animals were kept in. This kind of thing is not morally right in Australia but every other country has its own view on what is food and how it is treated. I was in Morocco 3 years back I ate camel several times and bought a camel belt. Some people would be horrified but camel is a regular food over there so I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary in that country.

I wouldn't eat any of these things out here - I don't even buy leather shoes. And I do care how my meat is killed here in Australia. Hence my mixed feelings on this issue in regards to other cultures and countries. I'm not sure I can tell them what they should and shouldn't do.

Yes, they should be told and the world should get together in order to stop them from continuing such barbaric practices! Boy oh boy, you sure did your best to fit in and you most certainly did which I find horrendous for someone that regards herself as an animal lover. While I am at it, is there anything you haven't gotten around to sampling yet?

[mumof3]

Of course, we do have the battle of GM on our hands....now, don't get me started on that!!

Great minds think alike, hey. Yes. GM. And I can't remember what they call it, but where they GM plants so that the seeds they produce are sterile. Anyway, we are getting further and further OT.... And I don't qualify for the appropriate forum yet!

[Little Gifts]

G of E I am now almost 47 years old and am not the person I was in my teens and 20s. The people I was with in those countries over those years were all the family I had in those days so I did my best to fit in. I ate what I had available - I didn't have the option to go to Maccas or cook for myself. I was a vegetarian for 15 years after that so it obviously had an impact on my life. I do feel bad about my experiences back then which is what I was trying to share - my mixed feelings. The treatment of animals particularly in poorer asian areas is horrific. I saw many things that made me very distressed but the situation is so widespread and so generationally imbedded. I didn't feel empowered as I do now. The rights of animals are very important to me here in Australia but as for other countries I have travelled or lived in it is so very different that I know they don't see it like we do. Asian countries in particular will cage and eat anything. They like things very fresh and believe things like if you eat a monkey's brains then it is good for your own brain. Have you ever seen traditional chinese food? It all has head and eyes and feet on it. Nothing is wasted and nothing is considered morally wrong to eat (unless for religious reasons). I can still cherish animals and recognise that other parts of the world may never share my feelings and beliefs. I also try to accept when I am travelling to out of the way places that their staple diet is not necessarily my own when I am at home - hence the camel eating when I had to. The camel belt? I'm still uncomfortable about that since I don't even buy leather shoes or handbags. Sometimes when you are surrounded by carved bone trinket boxes being sold by very poor people you buy one without making the connection with the original source. I try to learn from my experiences each time.

[whippets]

I would LOVE to grow my own organic fruit n veg, free range chooks and milk the goats to make my soap. I couldn't raise calves or sheep for slaughter though. They'd all have names and be spoilt bloody rotten.