31 Replies to “The PreCationary Principle”

  1. As someone who was woken for the umpteenth time last night by the neighbours’ cats fighting, I have little sympathy for these or any other moggies.
    But I certainly don’t want one placed before me on a plate … unless it’s home plate and I’m armed with a Canadian-made hardwood bat.

  3. Well, dog meat is popular in Korea, but we don’t complain about that, do we? (Except the PETA-folks, that is.)

  4. This isn’t news to anyone who has Chinese friends, who are frank about their culture, rather than politically correct.
    I worked with and befriended a fellow from Canton, who described the live animal markets in great detail, even the choosing of a dog to get the most tender one. The butcher then slaughtered it in front of you, and you took it home for dinner.
    He said if one knew the right shop, one could obtain “dog” in Vancouver, as some hadn’t lost their taste for the delicacy.
    Pets are a six billion dollar industry in the US, in China, they are viewed quite differently.

  5. I think the point is being missed. I don’t care what OTHER people eat…I don’t want to eat cats or dogs. Following on reports of other poisoning scares related to foodstuffs imported from China, it would be easy to imagine us being fed meat from any number of different varieties of critters in processed meat products from China. For all we know, some unscrupulous food processors could be feeding us rat, civet cat or (for that matter) giant panda meat mixed in with the other stuff. Soylent Green, anyone?
    I’m with Kate on this. Ban the import of food from China until we can be assured what it is we are buying.

  6. NO product that originates in China will EVER be inserted or ingested in any of my several orifices, or that of my family.

  7. My household is now on “boycott china” mode. I do not care if it costs 10 times more for the item, we are now doing everything possible to avoid all the crap coming from commie land. Easier said than done, I might add, but we are making progress. Means no more trips to walsmart, but anything is worth the price to avoid the possibility of being poisoned directly, or indirectly by their crap. We have never purchased any food products from Asia, as that would be the equivalent of playing Russian roulette with your family’s lives.

  8. I am getting afraid to eat ANYTHING these days because Chinese ingredients are completely embedded into our food chain.
    Even livestock feed/petfood.
    *ugh*

  10. Could be that “chicken chow mien” is actually cat chow mien. I’m staying the hell away from “authentic Chinese restaurants. Reading labels is a start on all other products but even then we can’t be sure.
    We need some government action.

  11. If one were to take the time to read the story and follow the links I think a few of you might change your minds and retract your tasteless jokes. This isn’t, or at least shouldn’t be, about the choice of food animal in China or Korea, but rather it should be about the cruelty inflicted on them during the process. Look at the cats in those cages and ask yourself if that is humane treatment. While I’m sure you can buy dog meat in Vancouver I’m also certain that it’s not the buying of the dog that makes it illegal, it’s the slaughter methodology and lack of inspection. And correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that the thrust of Kate’s post? The lack of inspection and quality control in food products from China? When you buy a food product from China are you getting what you paid for? Is that really beef? And what you’re definitely missing is the peace of mind that your culinary pleasure isn’t being purchased by the cruel treatment of your meal before and during slaughter.
    Oh, and Matt, blaming the cat for its owner’s failure neuter the animal is childish. As are bat fantasies. Maybe you could write an email to your local animal control office or city council and push for mandatory spay/neuter laws instead.

  12. Too funny. LizJ finds yet another reason to stay hidden in the bunker. But the question is, who makes Dorrios?

  13. “Maybe you could write an email to your local animal control office or city council and push for mandatory spay/neuter laws instead.”
    NO NO NO
    Don’t do these things. There is no longer a problem with overpopulation in dogs (there are humane societies in the US IMPORTING small dogs from Puerto Rico to fill the demand). These legislative actions have zip to do with pet overpopulation and everything to do with the efforts of the Humane Society of the United States (a hard core animal rights organization) working to eliminate pet ownership all together.
    Don’t get sucked in by this animal rights crap. We have enough laws already to deal with humane issues. What we need is enforcement and in some cases, stronger penalties. Not new programs to register and penalize responsible pet owners al la gun control….

  15. By the way – if you look more closely at the photo, you’ll find these cats are all of similar colours. That’s indication of controlled breeding. These aren’t unwanted pets – they were specifically bred for the market.

  18. Usually the first three words of a Chinese cookbook are:
    here kitty kitty……:)

  19. I don’t mean to harp but as I have said here many times before, don’t by made in China. Short term, food, long term, anything.

  22. “Maybe you could write an email to your local animal control office or city council and push for mandatory spay/neuter laws instead.”
    Maybe cat owners could acquire an ounce of consideration for their neighbours and keep their animals on a leash or in the house. And off my bloody property.
    The only time I’ve called animal control is when I’ve trapped these nuisance animals and needed to have them taken away. You don’t take care of your cat, I will.

  23. Reminds me of the 75th birthday party I had planned for my husband at a Chinese restaurant and my cousin’s husband refused to attend unless I changed the venue. Never would eat in a Chinese restaurant – as a policeman he patrolled the streets (and alleys behind the restaurants)and I didn’t want to know his reason. I figured he let his imagination run wild. Maybe something else was.
    Anyway, wish I’d read this before having my lunch at a Chinese buffet today. Or, you mean only on mainland China they eat cats???

  24. You don’t only have to worry about the food, but about the dishware ‘Made in China’ you place your food on, which could potentially have high levels of lead.
    I’m pretty sure I was served up cat in a take-out order of Chinese Chicken Chop Suey – it wasn’t chicken, that I am sure of, and it wasn’t that other white meat either.

  25. eastern paul: Usually the first three words of a Chinese cookbook are: “here kitty kitty”
    BAD! ROFL!
    Another famous cookbook is “100 ways to Wok your dog”

  27. Interesting to see the commentors who are, for a variety of reasons, looking to reduce their China dependence.
    At our house we are looking to promote local business any way we can. I like some elements of the Chinese drive to manufacturing dominance; but at the chap in the James Fallows article in the Atlantic this month points out, too many Chinese businessmen are, “happy with crappy”.
    I don’t want to eat, own or buy crappy. So I don’t.

  28. As said by my host during lunch yesterday near Shanghai: “No, no, that’s the rabbit, THAT’s the chicken, and THAT’s the duck”

  29. A few years ago, I applied for a vanity license plate. I requested

    8 MY CAT

    The Ontario MOT declined the application, saying that it was offensive to the cat eating community.
    I reapplied for

    KILL ALL THE INFIDELS KILL KILL KILL

    The Ontario MOT declined the application, saying that it would not fit on the plate.
    Humph.

  30. This is not restricted to China. Apparently, in Vietnam cats are also considered a delicacy, however, the problem is that with no cats around the country is been overrun with rats.

  31. Two comments: First, back in the 70’s, when attending U of T, we went to a Chinese restaurant on Spadina, after having consumed a few adult beverages. My friend’s girlfriend says “Watch this”, and goes downstairs to the washroom. When she comes upstairs, she fakes a look of disgust, and says in a loud voice “Do you know what they have down there? Cages and cages of cats!”. A few of the white patrons who hadn’t ordered yet looked over our way, put down their menus, and left. We laughed ourselves silly.
    Now I happen to have been married to a Chinese woman for twenty years, during which time we have eaten in Oriental restaurants on four continents. I have never had any reason to suspect that what I was given wasn’t what I ordered, neither by taste, texture, or after-effects. My brothers-in-law who still live in Asia won’t deny that there are places in the Philippines and Korea (and probably China) where you can order dog, but according to them, it’s considered a ‘delicacy’ by the locals, and considerably more expensive than standard dishes, so the chances that the cooks would substitute dog for the considerably cheaper pork or chicken is, in their minds, nil.
    None of the above prevented me from laughing my head off at Bruce’s animation – that was truly hilarious.

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