A man was stopped by the police the other day (after running a stop sign) and found a meowing cat in the trunk marinating with oil, chili peppers, crushed peppers and salt. When the police asked why the cat was covered in cooking ingredients he said that he was going to cook the cat for being mean to him.
Most states have laws about animal cruelty and do not allow pets to be consumed. Click here to read more about this.
This article raises a lot of interesting questions of what is considered food and what isn’t. Most of you are probably disgusted by the idea of eating your beloved pets because you love them and they love you. It’s difficult to imagine roasting Snoopy and carving him apart to eat with your peas and rice. We’re probably more comfortable eating chickens, cows and pigs. But here’s my question for you: What makes one animal more food-worthy than another? If we strip away cultural influences, probably nothing. Both cats and cows probably provide adequate nutrition for our bodily needs. Put culture back in and there a whole system of rules and regulations that makes us ok with certain meats and not others.
Even with the animals that we do eat, people have certain preferences for specific parts of the animal. Chicken butt? Cow intestines? Pigs feet? Chicken heart? Are you making a face? Why? What makes you make a face?
For better or for worse we are animals that are socialized into knowing what is edible or not in our animal world. Our habits are so routine that we don’t stop to think about the “norms” until something like this happens.
By the way, the picture below is the actual cat that was found marinating in the trunk.
