# Eating cats, illegal? Immoral? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 28, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629 "2010-10-28T06:10:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@Captain\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/1 "2010-10-28T06:10:21Z")
Let’s say that I am an average person with an average job who lives an average life. However, I like to eat cats once a week. I get someone to butcher a cat for me, I take it home, make it into a stew. Tastes like chicken! Is this illegal? Would it be illegal if the butchering was sanitary with minimal pain to the animal? Why is eating cats any different than eating pigs, chickens or cows? Why do we insult cultures who do eat cats? Here’s a good line, “The only way he’s going to get any pussy is if he molests a cat!” Classic. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/2 "2010-10-28T06:15:52Z")
No idea on legality, but I do not see it as a moral issue unless you are chowing down on someones beloved pet. If the cat had been raised as a food animal in the same way as a pig or a cow, or was wild and had been hunted in the same way as a deer, then what ss the difference? It is purely a cultural artifact. Having said that, I’ll pass on the fried cat please. I’ll stick with pork/lamb/beef/chicken etc ---
**Author:** ![ColdPhoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@ColdPhoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdPhoenix)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/3 "2010-10-28T08:22:00Z")
My main problem with eating cat is the lack of meat on them. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/4 "2010-10-28T08:40:07Z")
I’ve heard that meat eating mammals are generally not eaten because the taste is bad. But if you like the taste, it’s certainly not morally different from eating cow or pig. It’ll work great as a pick up line: “Would you like to come to my place and eat some pussy?” Which girl wouldn’t fall for that?! ---
**Author:** ![ColdPhoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@ColdPhoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdPhoenix)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/5 "2010-10-28T09:09:11Z")
That may be true for obligate carnivores (I’ve not tried so don’t know) but not for all meat eating mammals. Pigs eat meat and I love bacon! ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/6 "2010-10-28T09:38:09Z")
> [@ColdPhoenix](#): > > My main problem with eating cat is the lack of meat on them. This is probably an UL, but I’ve been told that there’s a reason that rabbits were sold dressed and skinned, but with the paws still attached (and unskinned): A skinned rabbit carcass is not entirely unlike a skinned cat carcass, but the paws are radically different… ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/7 "2010-10-28T10:35:38Z")
> [@Captain\_Midnight](#): > > Is this illegal? You do realize, I hope, that laws are not universal. They vary over time and space. In order to determine whether something is illegal, you need to first specify what jurisdiction you’re talking about. > [@](#): > > Why do we insult cultures who do eat cats? Probably the same reason you insult people with facial hair. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/8 "2010-10-28T10:51:14Z")
Three reasons come to mind: 1. They are traditionally companions and rat-catchers, so more valuable to leave unskinned. 2. They have a fairly lean meat yield. 3. Society can avoid the interminable ‘pussy-eating’ gags. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/9 "2010-10-28T10:52:23Z")
Actually, according to Spanish tradition they taste like rabbit. Or maybe just look like rabbit, something I can vouch for, having performed dissections on both. For quite a few people in these boards, Bugs’ cousins are “pets” and not “farm animals”, just like cats. Since, afaik, cat meat isn’t poisonous to humans, I imagine there may be places where people are fine with eating cat. ETA due to simulpost: **Staggerlee** , your reason number three isn’t universal. Someone who eats pussy in English would be eating, guess what… rabbit! in Spanish. And we definitely eat the non-slang kind of rabbit. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/10 "2010-10-28T11:01:20Z")
Since this thread will contain many opinions(e.g.–immoral), I think I’ll move it from General Questios to IMHO, where you can still get the factual cites. **samclem** Moderator, ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/11 "2010-10-28T11:50:41Z")
Nothing to add, just looking forward to Bricker or someone like that to cite case law regarding the legal part of the OP’s question. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/12 "2010-10-28T11:53:10Z")
I have 4 that you can taste test… ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/13 "2010-10-28T11:56:35Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Someone who eats pussy in English would be eating, guess what… rabbit! in Spanish. And we definitely eat the non-slang kind of rabbit. ¡Quiero que me digas como se dice eso! 😉 (Just trying to get edumacated, folks.) ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/14 "2010-10-28T12:03:19Z")
I think it’s gross, personally, but that’s a purely subjective opinion based on the fact that I actually have a cat. I don’t think it’s immoral as long as you’re not eating your own pet (as in, you treat it like a companion and then eat it later) or someone else’s pet. And you bring it up humanely and kill it humanely. As for illegal, I’m pretty sure it’s not illegal in Korea as long as you eat it yourself (as opposed to selling it). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/15 "2010-10-28T12:06:40Z")
Comer conejo: to eat rabbbit (either kind) Comerle el conejo: to eat her rabbit (the slang kind) I did mention before that story of being in Brazil with people from half a dozen different Spanish dialects, and someone proposing the removal from the dictionary of any word with a “double meaning,” didn’t I? I made a sad face and said “but, that would mean never eating rabbit again! Well, no more meat and no more fish, actually, and I guess we’d have to ingest rather than eat, at least until ingesting got a double meaning that is…” - after some five minutes of tossing around green beans, asparagus, sausages, hot dogs, tacos, peanuts, eggs in any form, oysters, snails, conches, shrimp, and so forth, the Hispanics and Brazilians were out of breath and the USanians were requesting to be let in on the fun 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/16 "2010-10-28T12:16:52Z")
I personally would never knowingly eat cat. I love kitties. I remember the television special about cats, which explored everything from barn kitties to lions in the veldt (with striking similarities.) There was one sequence in which an Aboriginal woman trapped a stray cat, knocked it on the head with a club, and cooked it for dinner. It was how she put food in her mouth, and I see nothing immoral about it. It probably suffered a lot less than some cattle, pigs or chickens raised for food in the United States. I saw the website which, with graphic photos, illustrates how one Guangzhou eatery prepares cat as a dinner. It is slowly boiled alive. To me, this is _not_ okay–the cat suffers terribly beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/17 "2010-10-28T13:25:17Z")
Speaking of Spain and the eating of cats, I have a Catalan cookbook that quotes a 16th century recipe for _menjar de gat rostit_…I think that’s Catalan for “dish of roasted cat.” The 16th century author sternly warns the diner that “if you eat the brains of a cat, you will go crazy.” So if you’re going to be feasting on cats, headless is the way to go. Oh, the possible innuendo in the previous sentence… ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/18 "2010-10-28T14:07:21Z")
I’m pretty sure I’ve eaten cat and possibly dog at a number of Chinese restaurants. Whatever it was, it sure wasn’t chicken :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Waxwinged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@Waxwinged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waxwinged)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/19 "2010-10-28T14:24:31Z")
Has anyone here ever tried cat, and what does it actually taste like? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629/20 "2010-10-28T14:35:57Z")
> [@Waxwinged](#): > > Has anyone here ever tried cat, and what does it actually taste like? [Ask Mrs. Mooney.](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/sweeneytodd/alittlepriest.htm) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cats-illegal-immoral/558629.md?page=2)