Will “Cat” Be the New “Turkey?”
Will “Cat” Be the New “Turkey?”
By Amanda Arju
for LiamScheff.com
Tues 20 Nov 2012
With the epidemic of bird flu causing turkey farmers to burn their flocks and the problem of toxicity from antibiotic injections and related tumor-growth, this may be the worst turkey season in fifty years. Recent exposés of turkey farms aren’t helping the shortage of the usually plump bird, which critics say is more ‘steroids’ than meat. With the farmed turkey population in trouble, and costs skyrocketing, what will grace your table this Thanksgiving? A number of independent, alternative meat providers think they have the answer: They want to turn Thanksgiving into from a holiday to a “paw”-liday.
With approximately 9 million animals destroyed every year in the US alone, critics say that a valuable source of meat – which all Americans need at least twice a day – is going to waste. “We’ve traditionally looked away from domestic animals as sources of food – but in this economy, that just doesn’t make sense anymore,” said Walter Rutt, an entrepreneur in the “new meat” movement. “People just don’t know how to prepare it, but once you season it, feline or canine meat is very tender, and zippy.” Some celebrity chefs are already leading this trend, noting that dogs and cats are actually less intelligent than pigs. And it’s quite normal in some “backward” countries, like Switzerland. In fact, the US may be the last country to get on the “Kentucky Fried Kitten” bandwagon.
Critics say that eating discarded pets is cruel. PETA spokesmodels have dismissed the new meat movement as “cruel and inhumane,” but their critics point out that the animals would otherwise live lives of isolation and cruelty in pounds, before eventually being destroyed. “This is win-win” said Rutt, chewing on a kitten leg. This way is better for everyone. It’s natural, the cycle of life.”
So, what will be on your plate this Thanksgiving? A factory-farmed bird, or a free-range dog or cat?
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