October 10, 2008

A September Peruvian festival that includes the consumption of hundreds of fried cats has prompted outcry from animal activists. (Pet Pulse Illustration by Mike Lloyd)

NEW YORK -- An annual celebration in Peru has caused upset among animal rights organizations.

Despite the title of the "Gastronomical Festival of the Cat," the celebration doesn't really honor felines -- just the consumption of them.

"Festival Gastronomico del Gato," also known as the "Massacre of the Moggies," occurs for two days at the end of September in Canete, a small city located south of Lima, Peru.

It is designed to honor Santa Ifigenia, a Christian saint.

It is thought in certain realms of Peruvian culture that cat meat can help cure and prevent bronchial diseases. Some also consider the meat to be an aphrodisiac.

The hundreds of cats were reportedly bred exclusively for consumption at the festival.

Whether the felines were specially ordered or not, animal activists have responded strongly to the annual celebration.

"If Peruvians really eat 'poor old Moggy' because they think his meat cures bronchitis, that's about as bizarre as it gets," one People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesman said.

"Although remember that Asians eat monkey bits thinking that will cure their impotence and even Europeans butcher old 'Bessie the cow' or 'Henny Penny the hen,' because they see them as nothing more than a bit of nourishment."

Some South American countries are also home to "Cuy," an Inca tradition that involves sacrificing and eating guinea pigs.

Consumption of typically domestic animals can be spotted in many Asian countries.

Dog meat has historically been considered an emergency source of nourishment in some famine-ridden countries. It also is thought to hold medicinal powers in China, Korea, Antarctica, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Nigeria and Switzerland, as previously reported by Pet Pulse.

But the practice of eating domestic animals can also be located in the United States.

One British columnist remarked on the double standards set for animal consumption in various parts of the world.

"Another shock horror story about people from other cultures who just don't understand the difference between animals you cuddle and animals you cover in sauce. Cats are pets and cows are dinner -- we know the rules, so why doesn't everyone else?" Justine Hankins wrote in her Oct. 9 piece "Pass the Cat Burgers" published in The Guardian.

"There are, of course, some people who will wield a pen in one hand to write an outraged letter to the Peruvian government about cat slaughter, while the other hand is holding a sandwich filled with battery-farmed chicken carcasses."

PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich agreed, noting that in the United States "there are often festivals where people roast entire pigs."

"We've been getting a lot of calls from people horrified by the idea of eating cats. We try to point out that there is no difference between eating a cat or a chicken, a pig or a dog. They all feel pain the same way."

Leading up to the Summer 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese government created bans on restaurants offering dog on its menu.

And more and more people are beginning to see dogs as pets, and not just dinner.

"Change is so obvious in the past, I would say, five years," China relations director Christie Yang of Animals Asia Foundation previously told Pet Pulse. "More and more people -- families -- are raising dogs and cats as pets. It's a totally new trend in China."

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Pet Pulse reporter Amy Lieberman, The UK Sun and The Guardian contributed to this article.