Mon, 23 Oct 2000, J.M. Vitoux <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Don't really agree on the delicacy part since I already ate dog
>when living in Korea and didn't particularly enjoy it.

Jean-Marc ... how could you eat Lassie!!
I know I am making light of this in this post but it is quite a serious
topic. I think nothing of eating parts of a cow whereas in other countries
they are sacred. Coming from a farming background if one of the kids found
out we had killed one of our own stock for dinner they wouldnt eat their
meals. It was like we served up Bambi to them. All our animals were hand
reared, had names & were actually pets in one way or another.

>As a matter of fact, my understanding is that they beat (or used to
>do so) the dogs (breaking a couple of bones) a while before
>slaughtering them. The idea is that the adrenalin pumped into the
>system gives the meat a better taste...

God! I hope that beating before death practice has been banned.

>I notice that no one answered on whether fishes feel pain or not.

I havent answered it ... but Ive posted your query on a question & answer
list to see what the knowledgeable folk come back with. As soon as I get a
reply I will send it on to the list.

>I think that Strike was making a good point. We are more likely
>to react to something we know/like or can empathize with.

Not having travelled in the asian area as much as I would like to I wasnt
aware of the delicacy - dog legs. I am sure I couldnt stomach eating Lassie
(frog legs dont appeal either), yet I think nothing of eating turkey &
chicken legs.

>easier to mobilize people on Dolphin protection than on sharks.
>As an illustration I'll take the Singapore Night Safari. All
>animals on display there have corporate sponsors except the
>hyenas :-)

Hmmm maybe the hyena could be sponsored by a certain software company ;-)

>We are all humans with our emotions but each of us may have a
>different threshold at which point we think something is
>acceptable or not.

Certainly true about the thresholds & what we think is acceptable or not.
Im not in to fox hunting, yet in other countries its an annual sport. I
hate steeple horse racing due to the number of injuries, many fatal, to the
horses. Im not in to bull-fighting but in some countries its their national
sport. Our world is so diverse we have more grey areas than black & white
ones.
Viv