Will Protestors Keep Cats off the Menu?

Earlier this year, Beijing/st1 :city> restaurants were forbidden from serving dog on the menu, in anticipation of the flocks of overseas Olympic visitors.  Now, many in Beijings GuangdongProvince/st1 :place> are protesting the consumption of another beloved house pet: cats. 

Forty protestors gathered together, objecting to the cruel treatment of cats.  Wang Hongyao, a representative from the group, expressed some of the their concerns in a letter to the local government.  According to Wang, “the cats are being skinned and then cooked alive.  We must make them correct this uncivilized behavior.”/span>

While these are harsh words, various Chinese media outlets, including the Southern Metropolis Daily and Chengdu Business Daily, recently published some graphic images of cats being skinned in restaurant kitchens, and reported that thousands of cats were being transported to GuangdongProvince/st1 :place> for food.  According to some reports, people eat 10,000 cats a day in that province alone./span>

Beyond GuangdongProvince/st1 :place> and the initial protest, many Chinese citizens have been speaking out against the consumption of cats online.  One recent online survey by the Southern Metropolis Daily  found that about 75% of respondents thought that eating cats was “ruthless.”  Less than half of them had never eaten cats, and quite a few wanted to try.  /span>

Putting the “ick” factor aside, eating cats could present a health hazard.  One animal hygiene official told China Daily that his institution doesn’t supervise consumption of cats, but it does oversee the consumption of many other animals, including chickens, sheep, donkeys, pigs, and dogs.  There’s also been speculation that the SARs virus spread to humans by consumption of civet cats.  /span>

Will these protests and outrage over the treatment of cats cause national outrage?  Or will they simply encourage cat-eaters to indulge while they still can?/span>