The Killing Of Civet Cats

January 19, 2004 6:22 PM

Is It Politically Incorrect To Decry The Eating And Killing Of Civet Cats?Is Western consciousness of hypocrisy (due to the enormous number of animals we kill for food) preventing us from criticizing countries, like China, where practically all animals are eaten? Is sentimentality and the protection of animals we regard as cute better than having no qualms at all? I'm sure that the ratio of animals killed-per-capita is higher in the West than in China. Is there any moral difference? Probably not. Why, then, is it so shocking?
posted by MiguelCardoso (24 comments total)

Why, then, is it so shocking?

I think it is, for a lot of people, because of the term "cats" (although they aren't really). Also, people in the U.S. think of the Chinese as a people that eat cats and dogs, which we find terrible because of the relationships many of us have to them as pets -- in many cases going so far as considering them to be children or members of the family. So we conflate and expand our thinking to include civets as things that shouldn't be eaten, instead reserving that honor for those classes of animals that we ourselves have decided to eat.
posted by moonbiter at 6:40 PM on January 19, 2004

This kind of reminds me of what happened in London in 1665. They thought the disease was carried by the cats and dogs, so the city ordered them killed. An estimated 40,000 dogs and 200,000 cats were killed. Then the rat population exploded because they didn't have any natural predators - and the rats WERE carrying the disease.

I'm not an animal rights proponent, but I do believe it's wrong to treat animals inhumanely or kill animals of any species without good reason (i.e., because one wants them for food; because one wants to avoid being food, etc.). This article does present the killing of the civets as senseless and inhumane, but I wonder if the animal rights groups are right about that. Seems to me like China wouldn't want to waste what is really livestock if they didn't have to. Does China have the means to test all these animals?
posted by orange swan at 6:55 PM on January 19, 2004

The joking side of me wants to set up a Cafepress.com t-shirt with a slogan like "Mmmm... Civet Cats Sure Are Tasty," but my serious side wonders if these animals aren't headed for extinction because of inconclusive findings.
posted by Frank Grimes at 7:02 PM on January 19, 2004

'Politically incorrect' is such a loaded term that I wish people would forget about it. A more appropriate question would be 'Is it hypocritical?' though the answer ought to be obvious. I don't particularly find the eating and killing of civet cats any more shocking than the eating and killing of any other animal.
posted by cobra libre at 8:07 PM on January 19, 2004

Is there any moral difference? Probably not. Why, then, is it so shocking?

Because we don't do it. Same as being shocked by any other cultural difference, like habitually topless women, the acceptance of farting in public, or women reading books.

Me, I find it a bit weird to eat carnivores (of which civets are one). And you'd have to think that a carnivore known for it's funky-smelling glands would be a bit gamey.

That, and I'd really like for Asia to change its animal-handling practices before they spawn yet another in the long, dreary list of diseases to kill a few million people at a go.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:39 PM on January 19, 2004

I have a US encyclopedia from the early 50's. In it, I came across an article quite emphatic about the proposition that the Chinese would eat just about any animal that they could stuff into a pot. Anything : Civet cats, armidillo like creatures - whatever.

The article had several grainy photos of smiling Chinese holding aloft weird looking dead creatures.
posted by troutfishing at 9:13 PM on January 19, 2004

the article that you link to isn't even really about eating cats; it's about a serious and unfortunate public health issue. who cares if the slaughtered cats are of a breed considered a delicacy? there are god knows how many thousands of stray cats and dogs in the united states, all of whom are just as capable of spreading disease; and they are euthanized here on a daily basis. what's so bad about eating them? at least then they're dying for some kind of reason, other than that the old lady with sixteen cats down the street just couldn't be bothered to get them fixed.
posted by kjh at 9:27 PM on January 19, 2004

I find it a bit weird to eat carnivores

I assume you mean carnivorous mammals, and not other other Vertebrates?
posted by moonbiter at 9:30 PM on January 19, 2004

Why, then, is it so shocking?

Is it? I don't find it so.

The only thing that would be appalling would be if they did slaughter the species into extinction, but that doesn't seem all that likely at this point.
posted by rushmc at 9:56 PM on January 19, 2004

I like catsup.
posted by Satapher at 9:58 PM on January 19, 2004

Yeah, I meant carnivorous (or fish-ivorous) mammals. I know people eat seals, but... damn.... that's just a big dog that eats nothing but fish, and I wouldn't eat a fishy dog. As for mammals that eat other mammals... ugh.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:11 PM on January 19, 2004

troutfishing -- at least in southern China, people will eat just about any warm blooded animal. I used to live in Guangzhou. I don't remember ever seeing dogs or cats, but the cages in front of the nicer restaurants did have raccoons, bunnies and many other furry animals that I don't know the names of. Possibly civet cats, for that matter. I doubt most of the creatures eaten in Guangzhou have the intelligence of pigs, however, and westerners love portk.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 10:37 PM on January 19, 2004

I personally have a "no cute food" diet, but when someone eats veal or rabbit or lamb I don't become shocked. The west has cute food on the menu. China has a rep for cruelty to animals (justifiable or not) so reporting on animal treatment there is usual done in a manner to add fuel to that fire.

Anyways, the West has plenty of it's own culinary oddities. Jellied Moose Nose, anyone?

I had to google for that. And this is for you culinary heathens....it's Chocolate MOUSSE, not chocolate MOOSE.
posted by Salmonberry at 10:48 PM on January 19, 2004

Oh, and let's not forget Fried Cow Brains (I am so proud of where I live -- we finally made the AP!)
posted by moonbiter at 10:57 PM on January 19, 2004

Let them eat cake.
posted by spazzm at 12:45 AM on January 20, 2004

Mmmm, rabbit with Scotch Beer & Date sauce!

I am amused all the time that in Belgium, horse is a normal prepared meat (what Americans call lunchemeat, but eaten usually for breakfast in the continent). True, Americans ate it commonly, but not any more. It's okay, I find it nothing special.

I'm not squeamish about anything that's food, except maybe insects. I refuse to judge others by their idea of a delicacy, save the eating of primates and big-brained sea mammals (ie, whales and dolphins) or other endangered species.

Cute? No issue. Lambs are cute and very tasty! So is rabbit. Veal I hear is cruel, and I don't find it special so I avoid it. Frankly, I find chickens 'cute', in the pen or on the table.
posted by Goofyy at 2:02 AM on January 20, 2004

The African civet's perineal secretions have been traditionally used as an igredient in perfumery, as a fixative or for scenting leather. As recently as 1999, Chanel, Lancôme and Cartier were on record as admitting they used civet musk as an ingredient in some of their perfumes. Therefore, some people who find the civet too cute to eat may yet be unwittingly wearing tiny traces of its processed ass-glands on their skin.
posted by misteraitch at 2:10 AM on January 20, 2004

I've eaten muskrat. Are they cute?
posted by zaelic at 2:39 AM on January 20, 2004

I'm with Goofy; I wouldn't eat whale, dolphin or a primate. That's it. I've had dog in my wife's home village near the Golden Triangle, crickets, water beetles, rat .. My wife says of asian people: "if it's got 4 legs and it's not a chair, we'll eat it".

If you can tolerate eating pigs, cows, etc why not cats, dogs etc? Just hypocrisy.
posted by Pericles at 3:07 AM on January 20, 2004

I prefer dog to cat, if given the choice. You got a problem with that?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:12 AM on January 20, 2004

didn't they over-kill all them 'cats' (they're not) recently because they were found to be the root of SARS?
posted by dabitch at 6:34 AM on January 20, 2004

didn't they over-kill all them 'cats' (they're not) recently because they were found to be the root of SARS?

That depends on who you ask.

The dogs have it pretty bad.
posted by hama7 at 6:53 AM on January 20, 2004

Veal I hear is cruel, and I don't find it special so I avoid it. Frankly, I find chickens 'cute', in the pen or on the table

A 'cruel' rule is just as absurd as a 'cute' rule, though. All animal exploitation is cruel, it's just that some versions of it are crueler than others.
posted by soyjoy at 7:50 AM on January 20, 2004

' My wife says of asian people: "if it's got 4 legs and it's not a chair, we'll eat it". ' - I like this quote. A lot.

croutonsupafreak - I knew it was more or less true, but I thought the "Oh, those crazy, exotic Chinese!" tone of my 1950's encyclopedia was funny (and more than a bit culturally chauvinistic as well).

Meanwhile, what do civet cats taste like? That's the important thing.

'Course, I'm a flexitarian. So I probably won't ever try them.
posted by troutfishing at 8:29 AM on January 20, 2004