What species of animals would you not eat?

S

Specialist Elbr

Member
I did some reading through the vegetarian thread on this off topic forum. I thought it would be an interesting to turn it around, and ask are there any animals that you would not eat and why.

For the general purposes of this thread I will lay down a set of topic rules and a definition.

Definition: Animal means any creature from the kingdom Animalia.

rule 1: This thread is about species. The answer, "I would eat a chicken, but I would not eat my brother's pet chicken.", is not an answer to this thread.

rule 2: The animal in question must die as a result of you getting your meal. This means that seal placenta does not count. Animals that die from accidents or "die on there own" do not count. The animal in question must have a significant portion of it's life cut short to make your meal.

rule 2.5: Any animal raised for human or animal consumption anywhere in the world counts for this thread. So regardless if the animal is killed for you in particular or it was killed for market, it does NOT negate rule 1, it is still on the menu unless you vote against it.

rule 3: broad categories are allowed. If you are a pescatarian, you could say, "I will not eat any animal that is not a fish.", is an acceptable answer. You could even turn this to the extreme and say, "I will not eat any animal that is not a domestic pig,chicken or cow.".

rule 3.5: If you are a strict vegetarian then there is little point to this thread because your answer would be, "I would not eat any animals.".

rule 4: This thread does not count if you are starving. I would imagine, if it was a choice between your death and the death of an animal, most people would have little reservation. For this thread, you would choose between your usual meat and the unusual meat.

rule 5: For western/urban cultures, you do not have to see the individual animal when it is alive. You do have to know what species the meat came from. Other that that, you would only see it when it looked like packaged meat or cooked meat.

rule 5.5: Manner and cleanliness of the slaughter are not part of this thread. So just assume that it is clean and humane as you define it.

rule 6: This discussion does not count animals parts that are accidentally consumed or animals that are so small they are inadvertently swallowed. (dammit, I would NEVER eat a tardigrade!)

So what sorts of animals would you not eat, and WHY?

PS. you are allowed to add somthing to your list, if you forgot.
 
my rules are pretty straight-forward.
1) I will eat any animals if they are domestic species.
2) I will eat non-domestic species if they are farmed (e.g. crocodile)
2) I will eat wild animals if they are sustainably harvested (e.g. various fish species, deer, etc: it differs according to country obviously)
3) I will NOT eat animals if they are unsustainably harvested (e.g. bush-meat)
4) The exception to rule 3 is if I am in a tribal village (just as an example) and they are eating whatever they caught that day; I would not order the same thing in a restaurant, nor ask for it to be caught for me to eat.

I think that covers my rules.

I can't think of any specific non-poisonous animal species I would not eat, if the circumstance was correct, although even for my rule #4 endangered species such as giant panda and saola would be off-limits.
 
Chlidonias said:
my rules are pretty straight-forward.
1) I will eat any animals if they are domestic species.
2) I will eat non-domestic species if they are farmed (e.g. crocodile)
2) I will eat wild animals if they are sustainably harvested (e.g. various fish species, deer, etc: it differs according to country obviously)
3) I will NOT eat animals if they are unsustainably harvested (e.g. bush-meat)
4) The exception to rule 3 is if I am in a tribal village (just as an example) and they are eating whatever they caught that day; I would not order the same thing in a restaurant, nor ask for it to be caught for me to eat.

I think that covers my rules.

I can't think of any specific non-poisonous animal species I would not eat, if the circumstance was correct, although even for my rule #4 endangered species such as giant panda and saola would be off-limits.
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Mine are even simpler. :)

1) I will NOT eat any animals if they are domestic species.
2) I will NOT eat non-domestic species if they are farmed (e.g. crocodile)
3) I will NOT eat wild animals if they are sustainably harvested (e.g. various fish species, deer, etc: it differs according to country obviously)
4) I will NOT eat animals if they are unsustainably harvested (e.g. bush-meat)
5. The closest I come to exceptions is that whilst I try to avoid things like rennet and gelatine, I'm not paranoid about it. Sometimes I'll be eating out or at a friend's place and I won't know if the cheese or ice cream contains animal-derived products. So be it. Having said that, fish and shrimp in sauces does bother me, not sure why there's a distinction but there does seem to be.
 
Chlidonias said:
my rules are pretty straight-forward.
1) I will eat any animals if they are domestic species.
2) I will eat non-domestic species if they are farmed (e.g. crocodile)
2) I will eat wild animals if they are sustainably harvested (e.g. various fish species, deer, etc: it differs according to country obviously)
3) I will NOT eat animals if they are unsustainably harvested (e.g. bush-meat)
4) The exception to rule 3 is if I am in a tribal village (just as an example) and they are eating whatever they caught that day; I would not order the same thing in a restaurant, nor ask for it to be caught for me to eat.

I think that covers my rules.

I can't think of any specific non-poisonous animal species I would not eat, if the circumstance was correct, although even for my rule #4 endangered species such as giant panda and saola would be off-limits.
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Ditto. Except for the last paragraph. And I'd add, in West Africa any primate species would be off limits because of the risk of Ebola.

:p

Hix
 
I would eat nearly any animal depending on the situation and context. The main exceptions would be, in no particular order.

1. Any animal that is in danger of extinction.
2. Any animal which is poisonous or has a high probability of being poisonous.
3. Any primate, beyond the fact that it just feels too close to cannibalism, many diseases have come about from eating primates and nothing good has ever come out of it.
 
HyakkoShachi said:
1. Any animal that is in danger of extinction.
2. Any animal which is poisonous or has a high probability of being poisonous.
.
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2nd those two. And adding: anything causing digestive problems/ sickness/ disease/ unpleasant side effects. No second serving of Hákarl, please. Speaking of: has anyone here tried Surströmming yet? Heard you can only eat it outdoors...
 
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Would members who are happy to eat meat products derived from domestic species also be comfortable in eating meat which has been slaughtered by means of halal or kosher slaughter, where the sheep, goat, cow or hen is not stunned prior to having its throat cut and is allowed to bleed to death?
 
@ Animal Friendly: I think this rule defines it
rule 5.5: Manner and cleanliness of the slaughter are not part of this thread. So just assume that it is clean and humane as you define it.
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- I would NOT eat pals. Not in the sense of "Pet chicken of my brother" but as in "friend of man" in general. i.e. no horses, dogs, cats etc.

- I would NOT eat endagered species.

- I would eat the usual farm animals (cow, pig, sheep,...)

- I would eat animals that are hunted on quota only to keep the forests healthy (game, boar)

- I would NOT eat meat in countries where the overall hygiene conception differs from my own, or when I irrationally(?) feel the animal could be infested.

About starving ... I hope before I must decide to eat endangered species or a fellow human, there will be enough vegetation to munch on until the rescue party arrives.

About fish I am very un-straight: I eat only fish without bones, like tilapia or pangasius, and I know how they are harvested ....
 
dunstbunny said:
- I would NOT eat pals. Not in the sense of "Pet chicken of my brother" but as in "friend of man" in general. i.e. no horses, dogs, cats etc.
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I don't see "friend of man" as a valid category of animal, because it is too ill-defined to be useful. I can accept it as a reason not to eat an animal. If you wanted to say, "I won't eat dog, because I consider it to be a friend of man", that is a valid answer.

The term "friend of man" is based on culture and geography. As an example, in Peru and Bolivia particularly rural regions guinea pigs are raised as a meat source. In the USA and Europe guinea pigs are seen as pet animals. Here is a partial list of animals that are sometimes considered pets and sometimes considered food (guinea pig, rabbit, domestic pigeon, domestic goose). Theses animals and others demonstrate that "friend of man" is not a precise category of animal. I noticed you listed horse, traditional a pack/riding animal how would you categories similar domestic animals such as donkey, domestic camel and Llama? There are creatures like ball python, tarantula and fancy rats that are considered as pets for a small number of people.

dunstbunny said:
About fish I am very un-straight: I eat only fish without bones, like tilapia or pangasius.
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I'm not sure what you mean. Tilapia has bones in it when it is alive, unlike cartilaginous Fish such as sharks and rays. Are you saying that in Germany there are some fish traditionally served de-boned and some served with the bones in? In USA restraints most all fish are served de-boned.
 
I was going to comment but I would be breaking rule 3.5 (and by saying this I have managed to comment without breaking any rules:p)
 
of course I can only make my list based on culture and geography!
Friends of Man is as category as inaccurate as Pets. From what you named, anything can be a pet, and that also very individual, but if you find a better category, help me out!

I consider a Guinea pig definitely as pet in Western Europe, but I would like to try it nonetheless. Excluding Domestic animals doesn't hit the point either for me, because some I would eat and some not.

Elephas Maximus said:
I would eat everything which is fresh enough, disease-free and non-toxic.
And, well, elephants too.
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LOL, sorry, my brain immediately pictured you gnawing your own leg ;) and Bon Appetite with your horse. I don't mind others eating it, but I have a mental block to do so consciously.

The fish thing *sigh* yes, Tilapia has bones (as in German "Knochen"), probably less and larger and more easily to de-bone than fish with many small bones (as in german "Gräte"), like zander. If you want de-boned here you order fillet, but that doesn't help me (I'm the person who in a Guinnessbook-sized cherry pie gets the one stone). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think trout isn't ever de-boned here around?
 
It's not logical at all, but I can't handle the idea of eating cephalopods and I can't say that I have ever really enjoyed any mollusc - although scallops look good, perhaps I'll try them one day. The other really off-putting meats that I saw in African markets long ago, are monkey and fruit bat, usually sold smoked: the thought of eating either is the stuff of nightmares.

Alan
 
Specialist Elbr said:
In USA restraints most all fish are served de-boned.
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Sorry to contradict, but I've eaten plenty of (often very delicious) fish served including fishbones (aka "Gräten" in Germany) in restaurants in the USA as well as bought them at local stores there. It depends on the locality and fish you order.
Maybe you're also just referring to the processed fish food items you can get in the frozen food department of the supermarket. Those do also exist in Germany, with the fried "fish finger/stick" version being just as popular among kids as in the US. ;)

Otherwise, I agree with dunstbunny: anything can be a pet. I even know people who have leeches as pets (and feed themselves to them...).
What about "companion animals" as a better term?
 
Well, I must admit that I won't eat cockroaches, because of allergy. My skin swells after contact with roach's body or tissues.
And Madagascar hisser females look so yummy... :(
 
Most forums I visit are highly US-centric, 50% or more of the participants are from the US (One forum was for an operating system that was developed by people all over the world.:confused:). In this thread we have a cross cultural discussion. Therefore, if you would say, "I only eat the normal animals that people around here eat", the other people on this forum will not know what a "normally eaten animal is". If someone would like to elaborate on which animals are normally eaten in their culture, that information could add to the discussion. In the US there are only a small number of mammal species eaten, outside of that, everything else is considered exotic meat.

I suppose someone could follow the idiom "when in Rome, do as the Romans do". In that case, if they went to South America, they would eat cuy (guinea pig), but they would not eat guinea pig while they were in Germany. If that was the case, the answer to the quiz is, "yes, I would eat guinea pig". As a counter example, I personally will not knowingly eat whale meat, even if I went to Japan. I would hope that my refusal would not offend anyone, but I feel my convictions are more important that unintentionally offending people.

In the US eating horse meat is taboo and is usually meat with revulsion:eek:. There are however some people here that do knowingly eat horse meat. The idiom "I'm so hungry I could a horse", means literal, "I'm so hungry that I could eat an animal that would normally be taboo". If it were not, the expression would be, "I'm so hungry I could eat a whole cow", which is spoken far less often.

From what I've heard in Europe, rabbit meat is considered a normal food. Here in the US, only about 40% of grocery stores carry it. While I do enjoy eating rabbit, there are some people who I do not discuss the subject around, because it bothers them, and I am a nice guy:cool:.

Because this thread is being read across a large number of cultures I would rather have an answer of "yes, I would eat a rabbit" or "no, I would not eat a rabbit" rather that I would not eat a pet animal. In the US if someone were to say that they did not eat pet animals, I would assume that that meant they would not eat rabbits, even though I would not be 100% sure that is what they meant. Notice, the PETA logo features a yummy looking rabbit. :p

PS. Nothing in this thread is intended to offend anyone by eating a particular species or refusing to eat a particular species. I assume that if eating a particular species offended someone they would not read this thread.
 
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I definitely wouldn't eat whale meat in Japan. It comes under my unsustainably-harvested rule (and some species from some locations have somewhat polluted flesh). However if I was somewhere way up in the far north where there is legal subsistence hunting that would be a different matter.

I don't like octopus, because I like octopus being alive. (That's an entirely separate and vague rule I guess).

I have no problem with eating horses, donkeys, camels, guinea pigs, dogs or any other domestic animal.
 
Would not eat:
Primates, Mammalian Predators, and Odd Toed Ungulates.

Rarely eat:
Lamb/Mutton (I have and I enjoy it there just a thing about pork being widely more popular/accepted in the American South)
Squirrel
 
I have eaten many wild-caught animals when I was younger and clueless about conservation, biodiversity, CITES etc etc. Some species include Leatherback Turtle, iguana, opossum, armadillo, paca, collared peccary, pigeon, Red Brocket Deer and probably some other species like Howler Monkey and Spectacled Caiman.

Now, of course, I would never consider eating these species, if even it meant offending the hosts in a small village because nothing is caught sustaineably and some are just downright illegal to kill.

These days I only eat the meats that you can buy in large supermarkets in Australia, and even then, it's limited to lamb, beef, chicken, duck and pork. (No crocodile, kangaroo, emu, or rabbit.)
 
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