I WAS gonna say I was happy to see this thread was still up and bouncing, but now I see why it is and I'm just disappointed. BUT TO FREAKIN' STAY ON TOPIC:

I grew up hunting, so i've had a lot of weird animals. all of them cute, all of them delicious.

Alligator (ok, not cute and a little tough)
Possum
Deer (elk, moose, etc)
Antelope
Bison
Squirrel
Pigeon (squaw)
Bear
Rabbit
crayfish
frog
Ostrich

Would I eat cat or dog or horse? Horse yes, I'd try it. Cat and dog? Eh, i'd probably try it if it was a traditional dish where I was traveling. yolo and all that shit.

Balut though, NO. I just can't get my head around that one.

My brother-in-law traveled though out south america and had guinea pig. he was not a fan.

tasty

Female Indian pigeon?

I've eaten pigeon, it's ok but the breast is brown and can be extremely dry if not cooked properly.

But this is true of all game birds and beloved pets.

This is one I'd love to eat, the tail looks so moorish, like a huge lobster or prawn tail.

lmao, good catch, i meant squab.
edit: very true. I love bird hunting, it's my favorite. pheasant is amazing, but you have to be super careful cooking it b/c it has no fat. Duck on the other hand, no problems! same with goose.
and alligator, eeeeh. it needs to be cooked to death b/c it is REALLY tough. The best way I had it was in the Caribbean; it was slow cooked in a clay pot with root vegetables and other things. much more tasty.

I think pretty much anything slow cooked in clay with root veggies would be tasty.

I'd almost be willing to eat cat cooked this way; I'd never eat dog but with cat I could go and tell all my friends that I've eaten pussy.

Then again, with dog I could tell them I did doggie and ate a bitch.

Back to the gators, it makes sense their tails would be tough, although it looks so white and tender.

I think muscles on an animal that are used a lot tend to be tougher than other parts, at least with cows it is.

That's why pigeons (and ducks) have dark breast muscle for flying (dark muscle is well-oxygenated for activity), whereas chickens have white because they don't fly.

yeah, it's pretty much why jerks put calves in crates.

The morality of eating pets...

I'm reminded when I was a kid (5-7?), my brother wrestled and won a pig at the rodeo. So we raised the pig, named him, and the pig got really sweet after a while. Us kids had a protest of not to kill the pig when it came to slaughter (even the butcher was remorse about it). Still it happened. He was a pet, a pig and dinner at some point...

Actually, since you mentioned fur, not only their fur, but each and every part of the animals are extracted and used later. Many parts, such as claws and teeth, can also become TCM materials later. Chinese are thoughtful and never waste anything; on the contrary, should you visit a "conventional animals" slaughterhouse in say, Europe, you will angrily realize that many parts of the slain animal are thrown in the garbage and go to waste, even potentially useful ones.

About "torture", ALL animals WORLDWIDE who are to become food, undergo torture, in many possible forms, in many different steps of the entire procedure... Even while transporting them to the slaughterhouse and even unwillingly, someone can and many times DOES, torture them... Fact which causes the animal to enter anxiety, have a different mix of gland secretions thrown in due to bad psychology and their meat quality degrades, post slaying, becoming hard instead of tender and getting lesser quality rating, resulting in thermal procession to become food like salami, bacon, cold-cuts-products in general (DFD PSE), or even worse, tin-can fillings, which is the worst quality of mean down the entire food chain.

Also, you have no clue. Should you think chinese torture those cats and dogs, you have clearly never seen the quick cooking and eating of still living fish, or the meat-cutting from still living animals (such as water-turtles). At least they eat them and not waste them, they don't play with their food, unlike "civilized" people who hunt, kill and torture wildlife such as lions, which you can't even eat at all.

That article itself says it's very very rare and yet you immediately go to an extremely high percentage.
And nothing says it's a 'christmas tradition'.
AFAIK eating cats and dogs isn't illegal in most countries, that doesn't mean it's a regular thing people do.
Are you trying to justify the fact that you do it or something?

I've eaten snake and kangaroo meat in Switzerland before, although that was at an Australian restaurant in Winterthur, so I'm not sure that counts.

Interesting how I feel a tinge of immorality when thinking about eating cats and dogs yet don't feel its as bad as eating the ''normal'' meat animals, although all of them are equally living and equally mammal / bird.

Is it explicitly prohibited elsewhere, then? I don't know, I am asking. I am unsure if in most western countries there really is a list of animals which you are allowed to breed (for your own consumption) and eat, and which not.

I know e.g. that Brits apparently abhor the idea of eating horse meat... I can't say I've eaten it often, but I did taste a bit of raw horsemeat a couple of years ago. And yes I have eaten reindeer meat several times in my life, but I don't get it why that raises emotions in some countries; after all, they are DEERS. Or do these people abhor the idea of eating any deer meat?

It doesn't as it was prefab and actually McDonalds in disguise.

I hear bovine tastes great!