Eating dog and cat meat has been prohibited in Hong Kong since 1950 under the semi-autonomous Chinese city's laws, and the news has prompted both lawmakers and animal welfare advocates to call for greater enforcement efforts.
29th May 2020 – A historic moment for animal welfare: China's publication of a new National Catalogue of Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources, which was announced on 29th May, means that live dogs for food and dog meat are not allowed to be sold anymore.
In April 2020, Shenzhen and Zhuhai in South China became the first mainland cities to outlaw dog and cat meat sales and consumption. A month later, China's national government published a livestock and poultry catalogue that excluded dogs, effectively an official recognition of their status as companion animals.
It prohibits shipping, sale and transportation of animals for the "purpose of slaughter for human consumption", except for Native American tribes performing religious ceremonies.
China. 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.
As of last year, there were some 58 million pet cats in China's urban households, compared with some 54 million pet dogs. China has seen an increase in pet ownership over the years, with people increasingly choosing cats.
Chinese thieves fuel the cat meat industry, where an unfortunate number of over four million kittens are eaten each year. There is not much official enforcement against the eating of cats and other pets, but rather, the rules are more against the thievery and burglary of pets and stray cats.
Processing and selling cat or dog meat is prohibited under the Food Act 2001. Contact Health Protection Service ACT Health at https://www.health.act.gov.au/businesses/food-safety-regulation for further information.
In Australia, it is not explicitly illegal to eat dog in most states and territories. However, the sale of cat and dog meat is prohibited in all states and territories under the various statutes which govern the production of meat.
But surprisingly, Australia doesn't have a specific law that makes eating cats or dogs illegal. While the processing and selling of dog or cat meat is prohibited throughout the country, South Australia is the only state that has a law that specifically states that it's illegal to kill cats or dogs for consumption.
Australia's annual exports to China of frozen and chilled beef products were about 185,000 tonnes in 2022, but it was just beaten by the US with around 192,000 tonnes of beef exports across chilled, frozen and offal products.
While Australian beef is still sold in China with 172,000 tonnes sent there last year, some of Australia's biggest abattoirs have been banned from selling to China since 2020.
Bringing a pet to China is not easy! Because of the health risk, China only allows pets to enter its borders according to the following strict regulations. Only one dog or cat per person is allowed; no other animals.
Eating dog meat is a long-standing culinary tradition not just in China, but also Korea. Cat meat can be found on the menu in China, Vietnam and even parts of South America.
The eating of dogs and cats in Thailand is ILLEGAL. This law was brought about by the lobbying of the Soi Dog Foundation based in Phuket, Thailand. If you are aware of anyone serving dog or cat in restaurants (or privately), you should inform the Thai police. Please see the SoiDog website for details.
All wild animals under state protection hunted in the wild are not allowed to eat. There are only nine species of state protected animals can be eaten if they are captive-bred, including native species like sika deer, red deer and Indian bullfrog.
China. Although accurate figures are difficult to obtain, China is believed to be responsible for the majority of global cases of cat and dog slaughter. Each year, around four million cats and 10 million dogs are believed to be slaughtered in the country.
Horse meat is commonly eaten in many countries in Europe and Asia. It is not a generally available food in some English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, Ireland, the United States, and English Canada.
Ultimately, pet food isn't toxic to humans, but it isn't ideal. You can give it a try or even use it if you're in need. But it's not a long-term solution from a nutritional or food safety perspective.
Predator animals possessing fangs are prohibited (e.g. cats, dogs, bears, lions, wolves). Narrated Abu Tha`laba: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) forbade the eating of the meat of beasts having fangs (canine teeth).
Kangaroos are protected by legislation in Australia, both state and federal. Kangaroo harvesting only occurs in approved harvest zones and quotas are set to ensure the sustainability of kangaroo populations. If numbers approach minimum thresholds harvest zones are closed until populations recover.
The new tightened rules also ban some highly-processed meat products like pork floss, pate and pork crackling. Imported pork floss containing FMD fragments were found on Melbourne supermarket shelves in July.
It doesn't have a name. Most animal meats don't.... the language of 'food' names for animals came with the Norman invasion. Since the Normans didn't eat much cat, we are bereft of a name for its flesh.
Sitting at rank number one is the United States, which is recorded to have at least 76.5 million pet cats in total.
I didn't know that cats qualified as poultry. To give a slightly more serious answer to a frivolous question, cat meat would probably be considered red meat.