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Protests In China Over Eating Cats
where animal-loving residents unfurled banners in urging a southern Chinese province
to stop the "cruel slaughter" of cats for food, in Beijing, China, Thursday, Dec.18, 2008.
The protesters say as many as 5,000 cats across the country, mostly strays, have been
caught in the past week by traders and transported to Guangdong province _ to be killed
for food. (AP Photo/ Elizabeth Dalziel)
GUANGZHOU, China — While animal lovers in Beijing protested the killing
of cats for food on Thursday, a butcher in Guangdong province _ where
felines are the main ingredient in a famous soup _ just shrugged her
shoulders and wielded her cleaver. "Cats have a strong flavor. Dogs
taste much better, but if you really want cat meat, I can have it delivered
by tomorrow," said the butcher, who gave only her surname, Huang. It
was just this attitude that outraged about 40 cat lovers who unfurled
banners in a tearful protest outside the Guangdong government office
in Beijing. Many were retirees who care for stray felines they said
were being rounded up by dealers. "We must make them correct this uncivilized
behavior," said Wang Hongyao, who represented the group in submitting
a letter urging the provincial government to crack down on traders and
restaurants, although they were breaking no laws. The protest was the
latest clash between age-old traditions and the new sensibilities made
possible by China's growing affluence. Pet ownership was once rare because
the Communist Party condemned it as bourgeois and most people simply
couldn't afford a cat or dog. The protesters' indignation was whipped
up by recent reports in Chinese newspapers about the cat meat industry.
On Monday, the Southern Metropolis Daily _ a Guangdong paper famous
for its exposes and aggressive reporting _ ran a story that said about
1,000 cats were transported by train to Guangdong each day. The animals
came from Nanjing, a major trading hub for cats, the newspaper said.
They were brought to market by dealers on motorcycles, crammed into
wooden crates and sent to Guangdong on trains. A photo showed a cat
with green eyes peering from a crowded crate. Some people in Nanjing
spend their days "fishing for cats," often stealing pets, the report
said. One cat owner in Guanghzou said people are afraid to let their
pets leave the house for fear they will get nabbed.
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