I frequently hear people from my (and other) cities claim that one of the Chinese restaurants in town/city was caught serving dog or cat. I’ve even read two accounts of this in newspapers from nearby cities. After hearing these reports, I must admit to occasionally marveling at the amazingly flaccid texture of the chicken I am sometimes served at such restaurants. (Note to self: the term “flaccid” and meat do not necessarily go well together.)
I’ve heard some people insist that mixing in the odd dog or cat with the usual ingredients is not atypical in some Chinese restaurants.
That said, I wonder. Has anyone read of solid research that confirms this supposed widespread phenomena, or is its incidence isolated and its urban legend the stuff of racism?
dog is expensive and a delicacy among the Chinese southerners. Many other Chinese share the US distaste or disgust for this practice. Genenerally speaking, dog is served in the winter in Guangdong (Canton) Province and Taiwan but hard to find elsewhere. Contrary to popular belief, dog and cat are NOT widely consumed in the rest of China. For example, while dogs hang from meathooks in the winter and you can select a live cat from a cage in Guangzhou (capital of Guangdong province), such fare is not on public display in Shanghai. While I have never tried, I betcha it would be difficult but not impossible to find dog in shanghai.
When I was living in Denver, there seemed to be a disproportionately large number of Chinese restaurants located either adjacent to or within a block of veterinary clinics.
Hmmmmm …
As a food item ,dogs and cats or any carnivore would be extremely inefficient since they consume much of what humans could likely eat if prepared properly.
You get out much less in food terms than what you put in, and as such, historically speaking, poverty stricken peasants would not be able to afford to breed them for eating.