A SERIOUS TOPIC (For a Change…)

WARNING: THIS POST COULD UPSET THOSE OF A SENSITIVE DISPOSITION!

A few months back I was outlining a blog post that I never got round to finishing. Now, I’m glad I didn’t post it because – in light of certain *news* - I’d have had to write a retraction…

You see, I was planning to sing the praises of a local Chinese restaurant. Saying why I was so impressed with it compared with another place I had also eaten at. The second place, a “regular” restaurant (as opposed to a Chinese one), used to be really good but it went downhill after being taken over by new management a couple of years back.

There have been rumours raging against the first place for over a week now. That the restaurant has been caught serving stolen, domesticated pets (i.e. cats and/or dogs) to the public – passing the meat off as chicken (There’s actually a bit more to this particular story but I don’t want to go into specifics for obvious reasons).

Now, if you know me, you’ll know how easily I’m upset even by the mere thought of animal abuse – I take these things very seriously. That said, I want to ignore my emotions for a moment as I try to outline THE FACTS in an impartial and objective way. I’ll admit now that I don’t *know* how true the rumours are BUT it does look very suspicious, for the following reasons:

1. I heard the rumour from 3 independent people – independent in the sense that these people don’t know each other.
2. All three people told me the exact same thing.
3. The eating of dogs and cats – both legally and illegally - has been known to take place in other Chinese restaurants across the world.
4. The restaurant has in fact closed down and according to their website, they’ve changed their name.

I’d also like you to bare this in mind:
1. In China, eating dogs and cats is considered “normal” – it’s not mine, or in fact anyone’s place to say this is wrong. It is wrong, however, when the animal is someone’s pet – when the creature has been stolen from its owner and customers are being lied to, taking away their right to choose what meats they consume.
2. I’m not an extremist (OK, maybe in some ways but not in this circumstance) – often, when these types of stories surface there is a huge moral outcry. I can completely understand why some people may want to have the owners/chefs “strung up” BUT I don’t think this solves anything.
3. I did an online search to see if anybody else had reported on this but I couldn’t find anything except similar cases in other countries. This could of course be for legal reasons – no news source wants to say anything without proof for fear of being sued. I’m also aware that, in some cases, the court can order the media not to report on an on-going investigation.
4. As hinted at in my previous point, I’m not mentioning the name of the restaurant as it may be considered grounds for liable.

Moral to the story? Stay legal, people!