When I was growing up you’d hear stories about how the local Chinese immigrants would eat neighborhood cats when they caught them.
But our “Chinese” neighbours were actually Portuguese, and vegetarian.
Racists are going to be racist, regardless of reality
Chinese immigrants
I used to work at a Chinese restaurant an the number of people who came in there blithely asking me if we “really” cooked and served cats was astounding.
I got tired of answering the question so often that towards the end I gave up and my standard response was, “No, we only cook and serve idiots who go around saying we cook cats.”
I think the very low percentage of lost business was worth it. And this only because my boss told me that this kind of thing did not meet the criteria wherein I was allowed to roundhouse kick patrons in the teeth. If you’re going to be a dumbass, at least try to be original.
Dehumanising people makes it easy to hate and persecute them, and to blame them for a bunch of stuff which isn’t their fault. It really is a classic move with a rich history.
the old wise tale
Old wives tale. There’s nothing wise about it…
Boneappletea
Nothing to do with pets, but in Korea there are places that serve dog. At least it was the case when I was there 20+ years ago. But, of course they’re not pets, they’re farmed like any other livestock I would expect, and these places were not exactly commonplace even then, so maybe now they’re just not a thing? I’ve not really looked into it.
Now, saying “x” people eat pets is likely just what others have said, a slur used against whichever subset of people is the target of the month. Maybe it once had roots in facts like those I’ve mentioned, but they’re far removed from them now.
No, I did not partake in eating dog.
Illegal only as of 2024. But still, it wasn’t a widespread thing.
