Switzerland to Ban Eating Cats and Dogs?
 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/wo...dogs.html?_r=0

Imagine how shocked I was this morning when my NY Times carried an article that says eating cats and dogs in Switzerland is not illegal and a small % of the population does eat them - for a special treat.

There is a move on to ban such edible felines and dogs.

I've always wanted to eat dog and cat just for the taste - any cat or dog restaurants you can recommend in Switzerland? (Just joking - could not bring myself to eat them even though philosophically I don't see why not.

Oh meant to add - cats are a special Chsistmas treat and dogs are made into sausages anytime I guess.

If folk myths re to be believed, cats used to be on Parisian tables:

"C'est la mère Michelle qui a perdu son chat ..."

And there is a Daumier cartoon where the chef speaks to an apprentice and tells him: "Today I will show you how to take a cat and turn him into rabbit that you will pass off as hare".

The claim is that rabbit is sold with its feet to show that it is not cat.

well in Switzerland I guess you just do not want to blindly ask for "hot dog"!

During and after WWII, the Germans called cats Roof Rabbits.

After having googled a couple of Swiss papers on the web it seems to be like this:
Yes, in some rural parts of Switzerland like Ticino few people occasionally seem to eat cats (and maybe dogs, though the emphasis was on cats)
No, that is not Swiss custom and
No, there is no confirmation that actually 3% of the population enjoy these treats (this figure was claimed by one animal rights group as a guesstimate - without any proof)
No, you cannot get it in any restaurant.
And yes, this story is "breaking news" each year for a couple of years now.

And while I have no intention whatoever to sample neither cat nor dog on my next visit to Switzerland, I'd say that only vegetarians or vegans had a valid point in condemning it.

I've ate dog a few times in Asia, but never knowingly had cat, I'd be surprised if I hadn't had rat at some point

Supporting the cruel practice of eating dog in Asia or anywhere else is not something I would like to participate in.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-industry.html

<<During and after WWII, the Germans called cats Roof Rabbits.>>

My husband has always called cats roof rabbits. He'd never eat one though.

Are there many countries where it is actually illegal, rather than just not done?

Don't know, I can't imagine why there would be -- it makes no sense to me to have a law against eating one type of animal when you can eat any other kind. That is very strange, actually.

Why would one be "shocked" that there was no such law, I'd be shocked if there were.

According to this, it is state law (of course, that doesn't surprise me) in the US, and there are actually less than a dozen states where it is illegal to eat dogs or cats. It is legal in 44 to eat them, just illegal to sell it (which is also kind of hypocritical, if you can sell cow meat, lamb meat, etc).
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/...es-101714.html

So are you shocked about that, PalenQ, that is it legal in the US in the vast majority of states?

So are you shocked about that, PalenQ, that is it legal in the US in the vast majority of states?>

It may be legal to eat dogs and cats but also illegal due to health laws - like in Michigan a tradition downriver, south of Detroit where French settlers came, there is a tradition of eating muskrat and even muskrat dinners in places during Lent but these are technically illegal because any meat sold to the public has to pass health codes and I do not think dogs or cats or any animal often on the prowl would pass such a test.

But these are rarely prosecuted in terms of muskrat but I suspect if eating dogs and cats became known there would be quite a furor.

I am shocked that Switzerland of all places has any dog and cat eaters as is apparent in some remote corners but I am not against it at all - like you say just like any other animal that is raised for meat and then eaten by humans. Animals are animals and IMO all should be protected by slaughter - meat should be illegal in my perfect world (yes I never fix meat for myself but do eat it on occasions like yesterday at a family meal - rather hypocritical I know but if it all were banned I would be very happy.

I think Vegan is going too far and you can have happy cows giving milk, etc.