Cat meat

Cat meat is meat prepared from domestic cats for human consumption. Some countries serve cat meat as a regular food, whereas others have only consumed some cat meat in desperation during wartime or poverty. Prehistoric human feces have contained bones from the wild cat of Africa. In some cultures of Cameroon, there is a special ceremony featuring cat-eating that is thought to bring good luck. According to Humane Society International, Agence France-Presse, and the BBC, cat meat is not widely eaten in China. But in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces of the Lingnan cultural region, some—especially older—people consider cat flesh a good warming food during winter months. The Associated Press reported in 2008 that people in southern China's Guangdong province (population just over 113 million) ate 10,000 cats per day. In Guangdong, cat meat is a main ingredient in the traditional dish "dragon, tiger, phoenix" (snake, cat, chicken), which is said to fortify the body. Organized cat-collectors supply the southern restaurants with animals that often originate in Henan, Hubei, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces. On January 26, 2010, China launched its first draft proposal to protect the country's animals from maltreatment, including a measure to jail people—for periods up to 15 days—for eating cat or dog meat. With the increase of cats as pets in China, opposition towards the traditional use of cats for food has grown. In June 2006, approximately 40 activists stormed the Fangji Cat Meatball Restaurant in Shenzhen, forcing it to shut down. Expanded to more than 40 member societies, the Chinese Animal Protection Network in January 2006 began organizing well-publicized protests against dog and cat consumption, starting in Guangzhou, following up in more than ten other cities "with very optimal response from public." Beijing News reported in 2014 and 2015 of Beijing and Tianjin authorities, respectively, discovering feral, and stray cats to be used as part of the cat meat trade, which drew outrage from many Chinese netizens.