Dogs and Cats on China Government Menu

Maybe in not the way you'd expect, though.  Sure, you can eat Siamese chops or Cocker Spaniel  with tofu (double yum) in many Chinese cities, but the government is considering pulling the tasty treats off the menu.

For the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government ordered all dog meat off the menus and local puppy chow stalls in the markets.  If nothing else, this act proved the Chinese understand the sensitivity of the issue.  Americans, for example, don't like to eat pet food unless they are on Social Security.

Chinese pet meat vendors claim that they are, in fact, not pet meat vendors.  They certainly wouldn't eat their own pets, as that would be uncivilized.  They only butcher those raised on canine and feline farms or ranches, although, they allow, you shouldn't let your dog out without a leash.

Farms?  Ranches?  Yep.

I don't know how you farm a cat or force march a herd of dogs (just try that with cats) overland to the Chinese equivalent of Abilene or Dodge City, but apparently the Chinese do.  Is there a John Wayne-like movie playing in Guangzhou with a long dusty mutt drive and the strained emotions and bean side-effects that go with it?  Instead of "Red River" they get "Yellow River"?

Should we all jump on a plane and travel 20 hours to see--and eat the fruits of---this charming bit of Chinese history before it is outlawed everywhere but Korea?  Well, maybe just hearing about it is enough of a thrill.

But don't forget when your job moves you to Shanghai:  When we American's hear "It's raining cats and dogs", we reach for an umbrella.  In China, for now, anyway, you reach for a fork.