Dear all,
the usage of cats and dogs as a meat source has been very common in
some Austrian rural regions until the 1930s (and probably during
World War II and the time after). People ate cat and dog flesh not
only for want of other meat types but also as a "speciality" (like
they eat the testes of bulls) and as remedy to strengthen their
fitness or for preventing some diseases like tuberculosis. Due to the
fact that slaughtering of cats and dogs is forbidden and that a lot
of people are really digusted at a cat or dog on a plate most of the
(few) existing historical data sources are eyewitness or newspaper
reports. For interested readers I will mention only one: ORTMAYR, N.
(ed.): Knechte - Autobiographische Dokumente und sozialhistorische
Skizzen. 2. Aufl., Böhlau Verlag Wien, Köln, Weimar. 1995. See page
89 (yes, it is in German).
Furthermore, in Austria dogs have not only been used for "meat
production" but also for "fat production". In some Austrian regions
it has been (and maybe it is!) a "custom" to use the fat of dogs
against a great variety of diseases. Only about two years ago
Austrian authorities closed the last known "dog fat producer" (It is
clear that producing dog fat is an underground activity).
Finally, I would like to add two personal stories to the carnivore
flesh discussion: My fathers uncle, who lived in the Lower Austrian
country side, was used to selling cats as rabbits to people from
Vienna (who did not know the difference) during the years of and
after World War II and - believe me - he was not the only one.
My grandmother used tanned cat furs as a remedy against
rheumatic diseases and "chills" (it had to be a cat fur - not any
other!). This custom has been very common at least in Lower Austria,
but I do not know what they did with the flesh. The fur which has
been used by my grandmother and which I still possess belongs to an
animal which spent its whole life in my grandmother's household and
died at the age of 18 years (the rest of the cat's body was buried
underneath a pine tree in my grandmother's garden!).
Cheers
Gerald
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Gerald Weissengruber, DVM
Institute of Anatomy
University of Veterinary Medicine
Veterinaerplatz 1
1210 Vienna
Austria
Phone: +43 1 25077 2505
Fax: +43 1 25077 2590
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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