Bridgette's got a point. One doesn't need "cultural sensitivity" to know eating dogs and cats is barbarian. Hail right and wrong.

Why is eating cats and dogs wrong and eating pigs and cows right ? I missed this part. And is it OK to raise and kill dogs and cats for fur as long as we don't eat them ?

Because cats and dogs are cute. Pigs and cows aren't cute. Well, they're kind of cute, but we don't live with them. And who the hell is killing dogs for their fur?

I once thought about killing a dog for its fur - oh, wait - that was while reading Jack London. But, in the previous post, the relativist argument rears its obligatory head. Okay, dear relativist, beef, pork and poultry are raised in controlled circumstances so they can get killed and eaten by us. They are generally acknowledged worldwide as a food source. Dogs and cats run about freely (yes, except pets and racing dogs), are not considered by the world at large to be a food source. Grabbing one of them off the street and eating it is like grabbing a scampering rat from the gutter and eating it - too disgusting for words. There is no cultural lens that makes it okay, and anyone who thinks there is needs to change. Eating dogs and cats is uncivilized, barbaric, wrong and just plain gross. There is no relativism here - there is civilized and uncivilized. There is right, and there is wrong. And there was Bridgette Bardot when she was twenty-two, and there is everybody else in France.

Well, we do raise dogs and cats under controlled circumstances - that's called breeding. ANd pets are certainly better cared for than most livestock. Is your objection to the possibility that the dogs in question might be free-range ? Why is eating snails civilized but dogs not so. I'm still quite confused. Is it the cute and furry thing ? THen how about rabbits ? Or the pet thing - in which case we hit rabbits and horse (and pigs - who are pretty smart and loyal and make good pets) as well. I'm not trying to provoke here - I'm genuinely baffled by your response. Are you one of the people who prefers dogs to people ? I can understand why they get upset (although not why they feel that way).

On a different note - does anyone know if it's illegal to consume dogs or cats in the US (not to sell them, but to consume them ones self). And what would one taste like ?

I'm told that they taste like chicken.

Yes, it's illegal - per local laws. In the '80s, some Vietnamese immigrants in East Texas were busted for killing and eating cats. The Texas Rangers didn't care if they tasted like chicken.

And, NS, no provocation taken, but now I'm curious: How exactly do you go from my view that eating dogs is disgusting, to asking if I prefer their company to people? Interesting thought process.

I'd love to continue this relativist roundabout, but I've already stated my view that such dining is barbaric and wrong. Now, I'm not sure if you think eating dogs and cats is okay, but if you do I'd say, enjoy your status as a statistical abberation.