June 19, 2006
Miss Shenzhen no fan of 'cat meatballs'
Shanghaiist reader luckytaikonaut (probably not his or her real name), aware of our affinity for furry friends, sent in this report about a group of protesters, reportedly including Miss Shenzhen 2005, who effectively forced the city's Fangji Cat Meatball restaurant to shut down:
The 40 or so, mainly female demonstrators -- holding banners reading "cats and dogs are friends of human beings" -- entered the Fangji Cat Meatball restaurant and demanded the owner free any live cats on the premises, Xinhua said.There were none in the building as the owner had already moved them out, it said. But some burst into tears upon finding a skinned cat in a fridge.
"I cannot go on with my business and I will not sell cat meat any more," the restaurant owner was quoted as saying, though he defended his trade by saying eating cat in Guangdong province was a tradition.
Hmmmm. No more cat meat? You may want to think about changing your restaurant's name. We would suggest simply changing the "C" to an "R" ... but we doubt the sign is in English anyway. The story continues:
The organiser of the protest, identified only as Isobel, the founder of a cat protection website, said the restaurant had been chosen because it killed cats in the street and it was "very bad for the students from nearby schools".A local beauty queen, Miss Shenzhen 2005, also took part, calling on people to "stop eating cats and dogs and become civilised", Xinhua said.
Hear hear. Miss Shenzhen 2006 could not be reached for comment. Nor could Pam Anderson, who may be out of a job as PETA's Mainland China spokesmodel if Shenzhen beauty queens keep showing up at animal rights protests.
Photo from the Daily Times of Pakistan. The woman on the left may or may not be the Miss Shenzhen mentioned in the story.
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Here are some better pictures to illustrate this article :
http://shehui.pic.daqi.com/bbs/00/550595.html
DO NOT follow the above link if you are the least bit squeamish or generally don't like to look at photos of cats being slaughtered in the streets.
But, yes, the photos do show what was really going on. And it was disgusting.
A quick glance at Shanghaiist, you would think that Shanghai was occupied solely by white guys and Chinese "chicks". You guys are such astute observers. Glad to see yet another website giving so much attention to exotic China girls, adventurous westerners, and evil, little Oriental males. Guess thats what the targeted audience wants. What an inspiring, trendy, hip blog... Two thumbs up!!
and three big thumbs up to you for judging an entire website based on a "quick glance." good work!!
THIS IS GOOD THAT THE BEAUTY QUEEN HAD HER INPUT ON THE MATTER OF CAT EATING. IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THESE PLACES ARE FORCED INTO A POSITION OF NOT KILLING CATS FOR FOOD. IN THIS DAY AND AGE IT'S NOT NEEDED. THIS CRUELITY LOOKS BAD ON OUR PEOPLE AND THE OLD WAYS NEED A CHANGE.
GOD'S SPEED TO ALL ANIMAL ACTIVIST.
MARY & BECKER (MY KITTY SON)
Observer: What the hell are you talking about?
Where in Shanghai can you get cat meat? I've heard you can get dog in Shanghai's Korean restaurants, but that's as far as it goes for household pets. I've had goldfish/carp, but it's not worth eating, so I think my pet goldfish is safe no matter how hungry I get.
Anyway I am not a vegetarian so the idea of animals getting killed for meat doesn't particularly bother me. Not that I would want to eat stray cats killed and cleaned on the street!
I like the variety of topics covered by the Shanghaiist and the style of the contributors. I won't use the words trendy/hip since those terms are passe, but you have 'it'.
Thank you Mike for the cat meatball restaurant link, grim viewing but necessary. No wonder Isobel, Gao Haiyun and the others felt compelled to act. More power to them, doing what the government should be doing.
Here's a link to a photo of sweetie Gao Haiyun as an entrant in the Miss Chinese Cosmos Pageant 2005. (The girls pictured above were in a Miss China contest) Below her pic is an interesting Contestant Interview which explains why she enters these contests.
http://www2.chinaknowledge.com/2005pageant/contestant05.asp
THANK YOU CATE FOR THE LINK. GAO IS VERY BEAUTIFUL. NOT ONLY ON THE OUTSIDE BUT ON THE INSIDE AS WELL. ANYONE WHO CARES FOR ANIMALS AND HAS NO SHAME IN CRYING FOR THEM EVEN IN PUBLIC IS A WINNER IN MY EYES.
AS AN ANIMAL ADVICATE MYSELF IT'S GREAT TO KNOW PEOPLE CARE.
MARY & BECKER
Eating cat is indeed nasty, but readers who insist on doing so are reminded to use a gentle circular motion with occasional breaks to prevent cramping of the jaw.
He Mary, please tell me why eating cats is worse than eating say cows, pigs or chicken? Just because they are cute and fluffy disqualifies them from being considered a meat source?
Oh please refrain from writing ALL IN CAPS. It speaks volume of the CRAZY CAT LADY that you are.
If anyone would like to read further about the protest and how it began, EastSouthWestNorth has an interesting page
"Backtracking the developments which led to the shutdown of the Shenzhen restaurant that allowed customers to pick the cat to be slaughtered on the curbside for their hotpot dinners."
http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20060620_1.htm
And it goes without saying that we should be vegetarian - as the late great Henry Spira said, you can't pat one animal and eat another.
HI EAT. I TYPE IN CAPS BECAUSE IT'S PART OF MY JOB. AS FOR YOUR QUESTION, EATING ANY KIND OF MEAT CAT, PIG, COW IS WRONG. HOWEVER, EVERY ONE IS DIFFERENT. I AM A VEGATARIAN BECAUSE I CHOOSE TO BE. I DO NOT BELIEVE IN EATING ANIMALS. TO KILL ANYTHING IS WRONG. I LOVE COWS, PIGS, CATS, DOGS, SNAKES, BUGS ETC. ETC.
I JUST BELIEVE THAT WE WOULD ALL BE HEALTHIER AND HAPPIER WITH NO MEAT AND A LOT LESS HEAVIER. ALSO WITH THE UNJUSTIFIED KILLING OF SOME OF THESE POOR BLESSED SOULS OF WHICH SOME OF IT IS DONE IN SUCH HORRIFIC WAYS WOULD BE STOPPED. THERE IS JUST TOO MUCH KILLING NOWADAYS.
AND YES, I AM A CRAZY CAT LADY. THANK YOU FOR THE COMMENT. I AM A CRAZY ANIMAL LADY IN GENERAL.
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.
MARY & BECKER
Good story. Nice to see the diversity of stories on this site.
As for the usage of CAPS, netiquette usually dictates one uses CAPS to emphasize something but when the entire section is typed in all caps it signifies one is yelling at someone. so please YELLING AT READERS DOES NOT HELP MAKE YOUR POINT, it only annoys people and then your message gets lost.
THIS IS FOR YU888. YOU MUST REALIZE THAT MARY CAN TYPE IN CAPS IF SHE CHOOSES TO. THIS IS A OPEN COMMENT AREA. DIVERSITY IS WELCOME. FREE SPEECH IS WELCOME. IF YOU ARE TAKING HER TO BE YELLING THAN THAT IS YOUR PROBLEM. AS SHE HAS STATED IT IS PART OF HER JOB. I HAVE READ THE COMMENTS AND FIND NO PROBLEM WITH HER TYPING NOR DO I FEEL SHE IS YELLING. IF ANYTHING, SHE SEEMS TO BE VERY KIND. by the way how do you like my CAPS.
"why eating cats is worse than eating say cows, pigs or chicken? Just because they are cute and fluffy disqualifies them from being considered a meat source?"
Yes. (and because they are our Gods) (and because humans should not eat felines or canines or equines. Porcine and bovine are fine. It's just how the world should be) (and you know it)
Of course she can type in all CAPS, but perception by others is relevant on the net, especially when one is trying to get a point across. She has some good points but loses credibility when others perceive she is yelling. Reminding/teaching a bit of net-ettiquette is not meant to be a bad thing. Sorry you took it wrong, but some things get lost in translation online. You are forgiven.