Cat meat
Encyclopedia
- For meat eaten by cats, see cat foodCat foodCat food is food intended for consumption by cats.As with all species, cats have requirements for specific dietary nutrients, rather than ingredients. Certain nutrients, including many vitamins and amino acids, are degraded by the temperatures, pressures and chemical treatments used during...
.
Cat meat or cat flesh, meat prepared from domestic cats for human consumption (versus a British usage referring to meat sold to cat owners in the days before packaged pet food
Pet food
Pet food is plant or animal material intended for consumption by pets. Typically sold in pet stores and supermarkets, it is usually specific to the type of animal, such as dog food or cat food...
s), is varied in its acceptability as a food source in different parts of the world. Some countries have resorted to the consumption of cat meat in desperation during wartime or poverty, including the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, while others believe eating cat meat will bring good luck or health and have longstanding methods of preparation. A number of cultures, as well as various religions, consider the consumption of cat meat to be taboo, for hygienic or humane reasons .
Consumption of cat meat
In most cultures, eating cat meat is considered taboo, in some cases even more than the consumption of dog meat, and it is condemned by many religions. Because cats are carnivorous, consumption of cat meat is not permissibleHaraam
Haraam is an Arabic term meaning "forbidden", or "sacred". In Islam it is used to refer to anything that is prohibited by the word of Allah in the Qur'an or the Hadith Qudsi. Haraam is the highest status of prohibition given to anything that would result in sin when a Muslim commits it...
under Jewish or Islamic dietary laws
Islamic dietary laws
Islamic dietary laws provide direction on what is to be considered clean and unclean regarding diet and related issues.-Overview:Islamic jurisprudence specifies which foods are ' and which are '...
.
In Asia
In some parts of ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, especially in the North, eating cats is considered taboo. Cats are seen as having souls, and thus the consumption of cat meat is sacrilegious. In southern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
some people consider cat flesh a good warming food during winter months. The cat's stomach and intestines are eaten, as well as meat from the thighs, which are turned into meatballs served with soup
Soup
Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...
. The head and the rest of the animal are thrown away. Organized cat-collectors in Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
's north-western suburb of Niti regularly ship cats to be used as food to the southern province of Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
. On 26 January 2010 China launched its first draft proposal to protect the country's animals from maltreatment including a measure to jail people who eat cat or dog meat
Dog meat
Dog meat refers to edible parts and the flesh derived from dogs. Human consumption of dog meat has been recorded in many parts of the world, including ancient China, ancient Mexico, and ancient Rome. According to contemporary reports, dog meat is consumed in a variety of countries such as...
for up to 15 days.
In Japan, cat meat was consumed until the end of Tokugawa period in the 19th century.
In Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, cat meat used to be boiled and made into a tonic as a folk remedy for neuralgia
Neuralgia
Neuralgia is pain in one or more nerves that occurs without stimulation of pain receptor cells. Neuralgia pain is produced by a change in neurological structure or function rather than by the excitation of pain receptors that causes nociceptive pain. Neuralgia falls into two categories: central...
and arthritis
Arthritis
Arthritis is a form of joint disorder that involves inflammation of one or more joints....
, though the meat by itself is not customarily eaten.
South America
Cat is not a regular menu item in PeruPeru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, but is used in such dishes as fricassee
Fricassee
Fricassee or Fricassée is a catch-all term used to describe a stewed dish typically made with poultry, but other types of white meat can be substituted. It is cut into pieces and then stewed in gravy, which is then thickened with butter and cream or milk . It often includes other ingredients and...
and stews most abundant in two specific sites in the country: the southern town of Chincha Alta
Chincha Alta
Chincha Alta is a Peruvian city located in the Ica Region. It is the capital of Chincha Province.-Location:The City of Chincha Alta is located 200 kilometers south of Lima, in the Chincha Province of the Ica Region of Peru...
(Ica Region
Ica Region
Ica is a region in Peru. It borders the Pacific Ocean on the west; the Lima Region on the north; the Huancavelica and Ayacucho regions on the east; and the Arequipa Region on the south. Its capital is the city of Ica.- Geography :...
, Afro-Peruvian
Afro-Peruvian
Afro Peruvians are citizens of Peru mostly descended from African slaves who were brought to the Western hemisphere with the arrival of the conquistadors towards the end of the slave trade.-Early history:...
mostly) and the north-central Andean town of Huari
Huari, Peru
Huari is a village in central Peru, capital of the province with the same name in the region Ancash....
(Ancash Region
Ancash Region
Ancash is a region in northern Peru. It is bordered by the La Libertad region on the north, the Huánuco and Pasco regions on the east, the Lima region on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is the city of Huaraz, and its largest city and port is Chimbote...
). Primarily used by Afro-Peruvian
Afro-Peruvian
Afro Peruvians are citizens of Peru mostly descended from African slaves who were brought to the Western hemisphere with the arrival of the conquistadors towards the end of the slave trade.-Early history:...
s. Cat cooking techniques are demonstrated every September during the festival of Saint Efigenia
Ephigenia
According to the Golden Legend, Ephigenia was the daughter of Ethiopian King Egippus. She was dedicated to God by Saint Matthew. When Hirtacus succeeded the King, he promised the apostle half of his kingdom if he could persuade Ephigenia to marry him...
in a town of La Quebrada. In Huari, cat is consumed as replacement for guinea pig
Guinea pig
The guinea pig , also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea...
, most used through all Peruvian Highlands. Huari born people are often known as mishicancas (from Ancash Quechua
Ancash Quechua
Ancash Quechua, or Huaylay, is a Quechua variety with a number of dialects, spoken in the department of Ancash by approximately 1,000,000 people. Like Wanka Quechua, it belongs to Quechua I .-External links:...
mishi kanka, grilled cat).
In Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, specifically in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, there are urban legends saying that some street-made barbecue
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
is made of cat meat, which is called "churrasquinho de gato" (literally, cat barbecue). Such urban legends, referring to pie filling, kebabs, hamburgers, gyros, etc., are commonplace, with varying degrees of truth or ironic scorn at street vendors' quality to them. For example, the Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
version of old called hot cakes "kitten pies", and has recently been modified to a sarcastic "buy 3 shawarma (Turkic gyros), collect 1 kitten" as Middle Eastern cuisine has displaced cakes to dominate fast food stalls.
Cat meat was consumed in the city of Rosario (Argentina) in the middle of the economic crisis in 1996. As citizens of Rosario argued to the media, "It's not denigrating to eat cat, it keeps a child's stomach full."
Europe
Cats are eaten in certain rural Swiss cultures; the traditional recipe on farms in some regions involved cooking the cat with sprigs of thyme. In January 2004, Reuters reported that, "Swiss culinary traditions include puppies and kittens. Private consumption of cat and dog is permissible. Swiss animal welfare groups say it is hard to estimate how many pets are eaten in Switzerland every year."Researchers have found recipes for "cat stew" and "cat in sauce" in the Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
in the Spanish province of Alava. Lluis Ripoll includes a medieval recipe for cooking cat in his book 'Llibre de cuina mallorquina'.
In February 2010, the food writer Beppe Bigazzi on a televised cooking show mentioned that cat stew was a "succulent" and well known dish in his home area of Valdarno
Valdarno
The Valdarno is the valley of the river Arno, although it does not apply to the entire basin of the river. The usage of the term generally excludes Casentino and the valleys formed by the major tributaries, such as the Val di Chiana, the Val d'Ambra , The valley of the Sieve, namely Mugello, the...
, Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
. Later he claimed he had been joking, but added that cats used to be eaten in the area, historically. Joke or not, Bigazzi was widely criticised in the media for his comments and ultimately dropped from the television network.
Cats were sometimes eaten as a famine food
Famine food
A famine food or poverty food is any inexpensive or readily-available foodstuff used to nourish people in times of extreme poverty or starvation, as during a war or famine...
during harsh winters, poor harvests, and wartime. Cat gained notoriety as "roof rabbit" in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
's hard times during and between World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
In 18th-century Britain, geeks
Geek show
Geek Shows were an act in traveling circuses of early America and were often part of a larger sideshow. The billed performer's act consisted of a single geek, who stood in center ring to chase live chickens. It ended with the performer biting the chickens' heads off and swallowing them...
were known to eat cats as a part of a grotesque form of live entertainment.
Elsewhere
Indigenous AustraliansIndigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
in the area of Alice Springs roast feral cats on an open fire. They have also developed recipes for cat stew. Some other inhabitants of the area have also taken up this custom, justified on the grounds that felines are "a serious threat to Australia's native fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
". Scientists warned that eating wild cats could expose humans to harmful bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
and toxins.
In some cultures of Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
, there is a special ceremony featuring cat-eating that is thought to bring good luck.
Opposition to use of cats as food
With the increase of cats as pets in ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, opposition towards the traditional use of cats for food has grown. In June 2006, approximately 40 activists stormed the Fangji Cat Meatball Restaurant, a restaurant specializing in cat meat in Shenzhen
Shenzhen
Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...
. They managed to force the restaurant to shut down and discontinue 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
Chinese Animal Protection Network
Chinese Animal Protection Network is a non-profit animal protection organization, and the first Chinese network for animal protection. As an organization founded by native Chinese people, at its core, there are some of the most dedicated Chinese activists...
. Expanded to more than 40 member societies, CCAPN in January 2006 began organizing well-publicized protests against dog and cat eating, starting in Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, following up in more than ten other cities "with response from public." In 2008, a series of incidents
2008 South China animal consumption incidents
In 2008, numerous incidents occurred in the People's Republic of China, mostly in southern China's Guangdong region, over the selling of dog and cat meat. Both stray and domestic animals were taken to butcher shops in large quantities...
were broadcast by the media on the increased consumption of cat and dog meat in Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
areas.