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Should we allow the eating of dog and cat meat?

I agree; the difference doesn't make any sense. It's purely cultural whim.

Seems like most people are on the same page here.

I understand why some people wouldn't want to eat dog out of personal sentiment- as long as they don't condemn others for eating it, I don't think they're being hypocritical.


Regarding bioaccumulation: Dogs can be fed and raised without meat products, so no issue there.
Cats are more tricky, but it can also be done.

Also: Pigs are frequently fed meat and other odds and ends. Same with cows and sheep, chickens, etc. Very few of the animals people eat are fed strictly vegetarian diets.


Regarding theft: WTF? As others have mentioned, don't let your pets run around wild outside. It's dangerous, and they can be shot, poisoned, or hit by a car either way.

People don't kill cats because they want to eat them- they kill them because they get into things and make noise.
 
RelativeSpace said:
I agree; the difference doesn't make any sense. It's purely cultural whim.

Seems like most people are on the same page here.

I understand why some people wouldn't want to eat dog out of personal sentiment- as long as they don't condemn others for eating it, I don't think they're being hypocritical.


Regarding bioaccumulation: Dogs can be fed and raised without meat products, so no issue there.
Cats are more tricky, but it can also be done.

Also: Pigs are frequently fed meat and other odds and ends. Same with cows and sheep, chickens, etc. Very few of the animals people eat are fed strictly vegetarian diets.


Regarding theft: WTF? As others have mentioned, don't let your pets run around wild outside. It's dangerous, and they can be shot, poisoned, or hit by a car either way.

People don't kill cats because they want to eat them- they kill them because they get into things and make noise.
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This is pretty much my position on this. I never eat meat but I don't think it should be illegal, and I won't condemn people for it. This goes for all types of animals, with the exception of ape meat(this is too close to cannibalism and may lead to very serious health problems).

I still think animal slaughter should be as humane as possible and hopefully the new biotechnology that allows us to grow meat in labs can be done efficiently at a large scale to make all animal slaughter a thing of the past.
 
Sure. I mean pigs can be cute, clever and stuff but eating them isn't controversial so why not?
 
Zelenius said:
This is pretty much my position on this. I never eat meat but I don't think it should be illegal, and I won't condemn people for it. This goes for all types of animals, with the exception of ape meat(this is too close to cannibalism and may lead to very serious health problems).
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What if apes could be eaten without the risk of serious health problems? I bet there's a way it could be done, such as raising them as livestock, away from Ebola etc.

I still think animal slaughter should be as humane as possible and hopefully the new biotechnology that allows us to grow meat in labs can be done efficiently at a large scale to make all animal slaughter a thing of the past.
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That would be cool.
 
Zelenius said:
By "we", I mean the First World nations of the Western hemisphere, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, places where the culture is ultimately derived from Europe, and generally forbids the consumption of dogs and cats, even if only recently.
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It's illegal? I thought it was just socially ostracized.

Sure eating cats and dogs can be perfectly legal. I choose not to though.
 
Greedo said:
I can think of one reason. If consumption of cat meat suddenly became acceptable, people would have to fear their pets being stolen or shot.
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Only if they were allowed to wander unaccompanied, which should also make people fear their pets being hit by cars or eaten by coyotes. At least where I live.
 
Wuglife said:
What if apes could be eaten without the risk of serious health problems? I bet there's a way it could be done, such as raising them as livestock, away from Ebola etc.
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Even if other apes(humans are apes after all) could be eaten by humans without the risk of serious health problems, I still have a problem with it on ethical grounds. They are way too similar to us, they are our closest "cousins" in the animal kingdom, and I am somewhat sympathetic to the idea of giving at least chimpanzees "human" status. Chimpanzees are about 98% genetically similar to us, so for a human to eat them would be almost like cannibalism.

Maybe a few might argue that cannibalism(as long as they don't kill or violate the people they eat) should be legal. Since murder is and should always be illegal, what if a person were to eat another person who died from natural causes? Barbaric? Unethical? I think there may still be a few cultures in the world where they eat dead relatives or dead enemies. What if a person dies and in his will he says it is okay for his relatives to eat his corpse?

I don't think we should ever cross that line, and I am willing to extend that line out to include other apes.
 
TragicMonkey said:
Funny, but I was thinking about getting a dog eventually, and the names I like are all food items. Mr Pickles, Waffles, Taco, Doughnut.
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Every once in a while, when I'm petting my cats, I think "These animals are going to die someday. It would be a shame to let this fine fur go to waste," and wonder if that's why people name their cats "Mittens".
 
Zelenius said:
Since murder is and should always be illegal, what if a person were to eat another person who died from natural causes? Barbaric? Unethical? I think there may still be a few cultures in the world where they eat dead relatives or dead enemies. What if a person dies and in his will he says it is okay for his relatives to eat his corpse?
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I wouldn't have a problem with it. It's meat at that point, and whether it's eaten by flames, fungus, or fanboys makes little difference.
 
Zelenius said:
Even if other apes(humans are apes after all) could be eaten by humans without the risk of serious health problems, I still have a problem with it on ethical grounds. They are way too similar to us, they are our closest "cousins" in the animal kingdom, and I am somewhat sympathetic to the idea of giving at least chimpanzees "human" status. Chimpanzees are about 98% genetically similar to us, so for a human to eat them would be almost like cannibalism.
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Why does being genetically similar to a human make it unethical to kill an animal?

What if there were a creature that looked nothing like a human, and had little to no genetic similarity with us, but this creature were as smart as a chimp?

Also, I don't understand why cannibalism should be inherently unethical. In certain circumstances, I think it can be the right thing to do.
 
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Ryokan said:
What animals can be eaten and which are taboo varies from country to country and culture to culture. What's acceptable in one, is unacceptable in another.

Just look at the animosity some people show when I say one of my favorite dishes is grandma's whale steak.

And my favorite sausage to put on bread includes horse meat.
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Horse steak is delicious.
 
I think there is a general feeling (at least in the West) that carnivorous mammals are not pleasantly flavoured. And most hunter-gatherer peoples generally prefer to eat herbivores where the choice is available.

and apropos of nothing at all, a cannibal joke:

Have you heard about the cannibal health-food freak: he only eats vegetarians.
 
Zelenius said:
I don't think we should ever cross that line, and I am willing to extend that line out to include other apes.
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As others have mentioned, genetic similarity isn't really ethically relevant.

The moral issues revolve around intelligence- capacity to have interests, and to have them violated. Though in that respect, it's a gradual continuum.

Wuglife said:
Also, I don't understand why cannibalism should be inherently unethical. In certain circumstances, I think it can be the right thing to do.
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Like overpopulation? :D
 
Didaktylos said:
I think there is a general feeling (at least in the West) that carnivorous mammals are not pleasantly flavoured. And most hunter-gatherer peoples generally prefer to eat herbivores where the choice is available.

and apropos of nothing at all, a cannibal joke:

Have you heard about the cannibal health-food freak: he only eats vegetarians.
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When I was in South Carolina I had some alligator and OMG was that tasty. So I never heard of the idea that carnivores taste bad. Shark is also good.
 
From Denis Leary's 'No Cure for Cancer':

Invigilator: What are you?

Otter: (chirpy) I'm an Otter!

I: And what do you do?

O: I swim round on my back and do cute little human things with my hands!

I: You're free to go...

COW approaches...

I: What are you?

Cow: I'm a Cow...

I: You're a baseball mit...get in the ****in' truck!

Or from the same source:

HIPPY approaches.

Hippy: Don't eat the tuna fish!

Denis: What?

H: DON"T EAT THE TUNA FISH!

D: Why not?

H: Because dolphins get stuck in the nets and drown!

D: Well, so do the tuna fish...what about them?

H: **** them, they taste good....
 
Didaktylos said:
I think there is a general feeling (at least in the West) that carnivorous mammals are not pleasantly flavoured. And most hunter-gatherer peoples generally prefer to eat herbivores where the choice is available.
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Do you think this might be because herbivores are easier to find and kill?
 
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