cruelty

[slipslop]

i recently got back from a holiday which included a week in hong kong. while walking in kowloon near the temple street night market they have these great big fish tanks outside eateries where you can choose your fish and they will kill and cook it for you. In a large tank on the ground was a reef shark in obvious distress at being placed in a tank of fresh water, it was really cruel, i wanted to shout at the restaurant owner but it wouldnt have helped this poor creature. i hope it bit the man who killed it.

 

[kjc1989ds]

yeh i used to live in Hong Kong when i was wee and found it fascinating seeing all these fish up close although I did feel sorry for them. Now i think its pure disgusting, for instance a napolean wrasse (one of the really big ones) was in a cage, and the fish itself took up about 60-75% of the cage space. couldnt move basically.

 

[Mr.X]

It is truly disgusting to see so many live critters being offered for food in some parts of Asia. Snakes, rodents, fish, rhino/elephant parts etc. A student of mine even saw an endangered Pangolin sold for consumption! I just wonder how they smuggled that poor creature in.

It certainly stems from misfounded perspectives about health and male virility. The only thing that would shut it down would be education and far more effective medicinals with proven track records.

There are certainly odd restaurants here in the US that serve (legal) lion, hippo, giraffe, buffalo, alligator bits. Not my cup of tea. Ick . Mr. X

 

[Tom Winters]

Well buddy, good thing you didn't go out into rural Kowloon and get a look at a market with live animals waiting for the end. Pretty much anything you can think of is out there.
Educational and effective meds have no chance against superstition. Just enforced laws. In the US, there's a lot of people who still eat dog even though it's illegal. The traditional way to do this to enhance the flavor of the meat is to skin the animal alive. I had friends in Aiea in Honolulu who had a neighbor who did this. HPD knew who the guy was too, but it wasn't a prisonable offense.
It does help keep the perspective that man is just another carnivorous animal a little higher placed in the food chain than most.