...these lovely cuties? Or "strange" creatures? Or pets?

Hi! It's Veronika here, and I would like to introduce you to some strange eating habits from all over the world. Regarding animals. It started when I watched a short video from the US about an issue with American horses being bought in auctions to be slaughtered for food in other countries.

Of course, it's sad and they apparently do a lot to ban these - as they call them - killer-buyers from auctions, as well as at least outbidding suspicious buyers at auctions to save horses from slaughter. But many of the same people that would be outraged by this thought would munch a beef burger without a single thought, and at the same time feel sad about poor horses...

Why is that? Obviously, it's a cultural thing, I live in the UK and I know how western countries are outraged by the idea of eating dogs and cats in certain Asian countries. Of course, there are always few rebels (even amongst people I know) who'd say "yeah, I'd eat a dog if they served it to me" - but of course, not their own, only a strange dog they don't have as a pet.

A strange world. Let's see what animals are being eaten as a norm in different countries and cultures or religious communities and which are, on the other side, taboo:

Please note: This list is not exhaustive and I'm not an expert on foreign cultures, I'm also not advocating for or against any of these habits particularly. As a vegan, I'm compassionately advocating against ALL animal abuse and unnecessary killing. In the modern world with plenty of plant-based supplies and soon even lab-grown meat (hopefully fully cruelty-free), I don't see the killing of any animals for food as necessary.

Also, I'm not distinguishing between illegal vs unpopular or taboo. This article aims to give an overview of what feels "normal" in different places or cultures opposed to what's not. I may accidentally exchange being taboo and being illegal sometimes, but that should not change the idea of the article entirely.
Now to the list...

Starting with the USA and the horse issue. Apparently there it is considered taboo to eat horses. Of course, who'd want to eat a lovely horse? Well, you might be surprised to find it's happening in some European countries - or at least, it's not illegal there. I'm from the Czech Republic and I remember hearing jokes about horse meat connected to low-value meat products. Generally, people there are not happy to eat it (anymore) and when horse meat is found in a meat product, it's usually a big deal in the newspapers. Though it's not illegal.
On the other side, some quick googling showed me an overview of countries such as the United Kingdom (hooray, that's where I live now - but hey, I don't mind, I don't eat meat, so I won't be accidentally served horse...), Ireland, Australia, and some countries in South America where eating horse meat is a no-no.

So what would you eat in the USA instead? Cows, pigs and chickens, correct? (Besides many other animals, of course.) And together with the States, most of the western world would not even blink an eye and eat them too.
Who would you outrage by offering up a cow at dinner? Certainly many Indians who practice Hinduism. Cows are sacred animals there, which is a well-known fact. Even in one episode of The Simpsons, Bart grew attached to a young cow (a bull actually) and wanted to save it from slaughter. The bull ended up in India - happy ending =)
How about pigs? Again on a religious note, the first connection with not eating pigs is with Islam. So another religion where a particular meat is forbidden from being eaten. Lucky are pigs in Muslim communities.
I'm not going into too much detail as I'm by no mean an expert on religion and these examples are only for illustrational purposes.
Moving on to chickens. Are chickens safe anywhere in the world? A quick google search only mentions an odd law in Georgia where it's illegal to eat fried chicken with a fork, but nothing about chickens not being eaten anywhere in the world. Poor chickens...
The only exception I found was in a short note about an unborn chick - embryo - still in the egg, being prohibited from consumption by Muslims, and it's supposedly something to do with the way such an embryo would be killed - apparently, it cannot be killed to the Islamic standards, so it's not prohibited. But once a chicken is born, it's probably not safe anywhere in the world...

Being kind to animals is natural to us. Human baby naturally plays with rabbits and eats the apple. Not the other way round.

Pigs are friends, indeed, even those big ones - watch a video.

I've started mainly with farm animals, but I musn't forget fluffy rabbits. It seems to be similar to chickens. It may differ from country to country, but apparently (although it may be quite unusual somewhere), nobody would really be outraged by having either chicken or rabbit on their plates. Unless you're vegan. Or vegetarian.

Speaking of fluffy small pets, how about guinea pigs? Commonly eaten in South America, Google shows Peru being one of the biggest search results, but it's not only restricted to this country. I've been told by a fellow vegan that he'd got a guinea pig to take care of during his studies. He was asked by South American friends whether they can buy it from him to have it for Christmas dinner. Outrageous? Yes and no. It depends on your culture or beliefs. Just to mention - this story made him start thinking about meat consumption and lead him to veganism. The guinea pig was not sold and not eaten.

Now the number one taboo, I believe, in western countries. Eating cats and dogs. Are you starting to feel sick? You're not alone, I've felt like that writing the whole article, even though I ate meat for 25 years. But that's another story for next time.
So when you live in the USA, or even in Europe, people hold protests or sign petitions against eating dogs and cats in China (that's usually the first place that comes into our minds when discussing this issue, but there are more, for example, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea,...). There it's simply a tradition. No big deal. Cats and dogs mistreated in a cruel and outrageous way - just as farm animals are often mistreated anywhere in the world. Now we're coming to the conclusion - how could you be outraged by dog abuse and consumption, but still be happy eating a beef burger (and sharing horse welfare videos and wishing all kill-buyers the worst prison sentence ever)? Isn't this a bit one-sided? Can't you love all the animals? Feel their pain and understand that all of them are gentle and loving as your pets are?

Have you ever seen a cow purring? It's more usual then you'd think. And chickens are not left behind either =)

A chicken or turkey hugging their human companions? Yeah, I mean even TURKEY - check him out =)

You wouldn't eat a kitten, why would you eat a lamb? Or a chick? Chicken sold in shops is just a few weeks old, sadly they are bred to grow so quickly it often results in their inability to walk during those few weeks they're allowed to live, not to mention their living conditions and the way they're slaughtered. Unfortunately, it seems like chickens have nowhere in the world they can be safe. So I'm telling you about them too. They don't want to be eaten. As well as the kittens and puppies, calves, lambs and piglets.

Goats are super happy and cheerful, don't eat them, give them field, playground and kind care.

I'm an animal lover. I love sheep as well as pets... I don't eat them.
Tiny little lambs - video or natural cuteness!

I would like to quickly mention wild or so-called exotic animals. Again, I assume my readers will be probably from the UK or USA and surrounding countries so eating a camel sounds exotic to them (to me too) although it's normal in some countries where it's not considered exotic at all - mainly in Africa or part of Asia... Eating ostriches - certainly exotic for me, just like eating kangaroos or zebras or even elephants. Which brings us back to the strange behaviour: I see many people outraged by killing elephants (either for their tusks or meat) but not outraged by the horrendous conditions of farm animals raised all over the world, where they have to live their short lives which are not even closely resembling their usual lifespan. It's literally eating abused (animal) babies, or teenagers at best. Doesn't that sound terrible?

This list is not exhaustive and I'm not forgetting fish and sea animals (I can't say sea food, c'mon...), amphibians (yes, frogs are still eaten in France - another well-known fact)... You may think - ok, fluffy animals are friends, let's only eat fish, right? No... Have you ever see how sharks are treated on fishermen's boats? Sharks are technically not fish, they're from an older branch of the tree but have close common ancestors, like tuna or sturgeon. Such majestic creatures. How could you mutilate them just for their fins, to later eat as a 'delicacy'?

Watch video: Did you know fish can distinguish shapes and objects?
&
Don't do this at home, but... watch video: sharks aren't JUST vicious!

Looking lower on the taxonomical tree, how about insects? Some say it's the protein of the future. Well, as a vegan, I'm not eating any invertebrates either, including molluscs (an often discussed theme on vegan forums - but hello, fellow vegans? Molluscs such as oysters belong to the animal kingdom, so as you all should know, vegans don't eat ANY animals or their products). When I was little I was taking care of some snails with broken shells. They're so sweet and somehow majestic in their slow-motion =) I couldn't imagine eating them.
Luckily many people also wouldn't be able to imagine eating insects or other invertebrae. And good news if you also don't want to - you can get your protein from plants. Really, that's not a myth. So if you feel like eating farm animals, just like any animal mentioned here, actually makes no sense then no worries, you're not gonna die. I hope nobody really believes that, but even if you're not convinced and may still eat meat I hope it's not because you think this is the only way to get protein. Vegan bodybuilders will tell you this is far from the truth!

I will be elaborating about some of the other things that stop people from going vegan in an upcoming article.

So! Feel free to discuss this with me in the comments below, I know it's a heavy topic but my point is clear:

If eating any kind of animal outrages you, why aren't you including all animals in your protective list? How would you explain that eating a cow is ok, but eating a cat is not? (Or the other way round, or choose any other two animals to compare.)

Wondering about egg and dairy? I have to let you down, it's no better than eating meat... There would be another article coming soon, but in the meantime, watch this: