Posts: 2,476
Threads: 109
Joined: Nov 2013
Reputation:
28
Yes, I read this on the BBC newsite. It is surprising that the Swiss indulge in such practices. Apparently it is illegal to sell cat or dog meat, but pets can be legally killed by their "owners" (I won't call them caretakers in this case!) and then eaten. How restaurants get round this I'm not sure - perhaps by raising their own cats and then killing them?
All animals, not just cats and dogs, require our protection and deserve compassion. I doubt whether home-killed cats and dogs are humanely slaughtered, as each domestic household cannot surely have a trained slaughterer in its midst. I shudder to think what goes on.
I wish this organisation every success in getting this barbaric practice stopped.
Posts: 17,145
Threads: 5,914
Joined: Jan 1970
Reputation:
78
Killing and eating ones pet is a little harsh. It just seems so out of character for a country that remained neutral during the war. I thought that meant that they were peaceful. Maybe it means something else.
You are right, most people would have no idea how to kill an animal humanely. Most slaughterhouses are doing a bad job.
I wouldn't want to eat in a restaurant in Switzerland, in fact I wouldn't even want to visit the country.
![[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-rtQnRVnpHuw/Upv4HXYM20I/AAAAAAAAAqo/K5MmSTvkZdA/w296-h229-p-no/IMG_9091.JPG)
Catherine
Posts: 586
Threads: 33
Joined: Dec 2013
Reputation:
5
I always saw the Swiss as the epitome of civilised behaviour, but clearly I was very wrong.
Another stereotype smashed!!
Posts: 17,145
Threads: 5,914
Joined: Jan 1970
Reputation:
78
I guess that there is no country without some dark side that needs to be brought into the light. Even the most humane civilized country has something that needs fixing and certainly has something in their history that is shocking.
Once these things become public I am hoping that people see the problem and fix it. Eating cats and dogs probably goes back into some historical time and situation where food was scarce. They just never rethought what they were doing and why.
If they stop then they are a civilized country. If they don't then they never were.
Catherine
Posts: 5,150
Threads: 419
Joined: Nov 2013
Reputation:
33
I am absolutely shocked at this. I didn't know. It is barbaric. I don't know why we have to eat any animal, but eating your friends is worse.
Posts: 17,145
Threads: 5,914
Joined: Jan 1970
Reputation:
78
How do you eat the family dog and not be bothered by it? It seems a particularly cold hearted thing to do.
I don't like people even joking about my pets as food. I find it very unfunny and upsetting. I don't like it when someone looks at them as food.(yes I know they eat snakes in some countries, but I don't want it mentioned any where near my snakes)
The idea of someone actually eating them makes me sick. So how could you kill and eat your own cat and dog?
Catherine
Posts: 586
Threads: 33
Joined: Dec 2013
Reputation:
5
11-28-2014, 09:57 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-28-2014, 09:58 PM by Cibach.)
Often, when I tell people I keep Guinea Pigs, they will tell me that they eat them in South America. I just smile and say that I live in South Wales and they are not on the menu. I think people want to talk about the animals and that is the only thing they know about piggies. We used to get regular visits from the local Jehovah's witnesses, and whilst I don't share their beliefs, I admired their persistence and bravery in knocking on stranger's door to talk. I always stood at the door and spoke to them, sometimes for more than an hour and we usually ended talking about piggies!! They met a couple of my girls and then got some for their kids. They would ask me about food, bedding etc. I've lost touch with them as they stopped calling for some reason. Maybe it was because I converted them to piggies rather than them converting me!!lol
Posts: 17,145
Threads: 5,914
Joined: Jan 1970
Reputation:
78
It is much more fun to get converted to piggies. Maybe after they got the piggies, they just didn't want to leave them to go door to door.
I know how you feel about the guinea pigs as food remark. I get that too about my piggies. I feel tempted to make a remark about eating their children, but even as a "joke" I don't think I could do it.
If they would think about what they are saying it is a little odd, but people say some really odd things. If you think of a good come back for the pigs as food remark let me know.
I really do not know what to say when someone starts talking about eating my snakes or chooses to tell me some story about killing a snake.
Catherine
Posts: 5,150
Threads: 419
Joined: Nov 2013
Reputation:
33
I totally understand. I wince when I look at the cows in my back field, and imagine someone killing them for food.....or the deer who find refuge there. (But of course years ago I did buy both venison and beef for Misty...)
But I cannot even imagine eating my dog or cat! And can completely understand we don't want bunnies, Guinea pigs or snakes eaten either, as these are our companions!
Even keeping a dog or cat in a run or kennel, and switching off emotions, and not giving them names (more or less as livestock is kept) wouldn't make any difference. A dog or cat's direct eye contact, and body language speaks of love and affection, or at least a 'knowledge' of communication with us. How can anyone EVER think of eating THAT??
And those who love and get to know any animal species as a companion must feel exactly the same.
