Eating live animals

Eating live animals is the practice of humans eating animals that are still alive. It is a traditional practice in many East Asian food cultures. Animals may also be eaten alive for shock value. Eating live animals, or parts of live animals, may be unlawful in certain jurisdictions under animal cruelty laws. Religious prohibitions on the eating of live animals by humans are also present in various world religions. In October 1963, a case was reported in Vitória de Santo Antão, Pernambuco, Brazil. A man named Antônio Pinto bought a donkey for three thousand cruzeiros. He then galloped with the animal and stopped at every bar he sighted to have a drink. Then, he bit on the animal's ear strongly enough to swallow it. He said that he had eaten the animal's ear as a "snack". Finally, he strangled the donkey with a cord. In 2006 in Shelby County, Texas, 49-year-old Reggie Paul Fountain ate his pitbull puppy alive. He bit off the animal's ear and carried it around with him as he ran around his neighbourhood in his underwear, covered in blood, before he was restrained by police. He was arrested, and explained that he was on PCP and cocaine. Several television game shows such as Fear Factor, Survivor and I'm a Celebrity feature segments where contestants must eat live animals including spiders, cockroaches and grubs. On his show Man vs. Wild, host Bear Grylls is sometimes shown eating various insects alive. There have been calls to ban eating animals alive on these shows. A YouTube channel called "Food for Louis" shows Louis Cole eating live animals. The swallowing of live goldfish was sometimes practiced within the United States. In Japan, Ikizukuri ("prepared alive") is the preparation of sashimi ("pierced food") made from live seafood. The most popular sea animal used in ikizukuri is fish but octopus is typically the only species that is still moving on the plate. Another fish dish invented by a Taiwanese chef from Chiayi, is called Yin Yang fish (also dead-and-alive fish) in which the fish's body (but not the head) is rapidly deep-fried and served while the head is still fresh and moving.