How is it decided what animals we eat and what ones we don't?

Question

Why don't we eat animals such as elephants or hippos (those with lots of meat on them)?
The tiny chicken gets it but the ostrich and flamingo are left alone...
Why are we picking on the little animals? Think how many steaks a hippo would supply...

I'm sure I'll get answers relating to breeding and endangered species etc, but why is eating a dog frowned upon, yet a frog can get its legs ripped off and cooked? Why is it acceptable to slaughter a cow, but not a horse?

Who makes up the rules?

Answer 1

Availability, type of animal and the use those animals have been put to and majority attitudes make the choice! Early peoples found that prey animals that lived in herds like cattle and sheep were easy to keep, and that predators were easier to use. The hunting dog became the guard or herder, the hunting cat became the protector of graneries and horses were ridable at speeds cattle weren't. Prey animals that man couldn't find a use for were hunted and eaten. As the working or wild animal became a 'Pet' then attitudes towards eating them changed too. Nowadays try admitting you like and eat Rabbit and see what reaction you get! I was brought up on Rabbit stew and I'm not that old!
In Korea dog eating is normal, in France eating Horse meat is normal and Ostrich is now a farmed bird like the Turkeys we discovered in the New World were! If we had had lots of snakes in the UK we'd probably think nothing of eating them, in other parts of the world they are eaten and enjoyed.
I'm sure if I was hungry and poor enough I'd eat anything available.

Answer 2

No one "makes up" the rules. There are practical reasons we eat what we eat. Six examples:

1. Taste matters. Some animals don't taste good. You really think no one has ever tried to eat a horse? There is a good reason we don't. A hippo steak likely tastes like crap.

2. Many of the examples you give are endangered. People DID eat elephants at one time, for example, but if they continued to, there would be no elephants left.

3. Cost. It is cheap to raise and produce pigs, chickens, and cows. Feeding and raising hippos and elephants would cost more than it would be worth. Ask any zoo. Many zoos barely stay open because animals such as these are so expensive to maintain.

4. There are many places in the world where you CAN eat dog or ostrich. Sometimes it is a matter of culture.

5. Horses, dogs, and cats make good pets. No one wants to eat their pet. That is why farmers don't let their children "play" with their livestock. They become attached, and then they don't want to eat them. It's psychological.

6. Nutrition: people require vitamins and minerals, and all animals do not provide necessary nutrients or are too fattening. Take your hippo steak example. Know why they are so big? Fat and blubber. Some steak that would be.

Answer 3

Dogs are eaten in some asian countries, I have had ostrich but most people don't like it because it's dry, horses are eaten in france (or so I've been told) and are put in dog food. I'm not sure about flamingos, but elephants and rinos are endangered and it takes 3 years for an elephant to be born and a really long time for it to mature, so it's not a feasable as eating a cow which doesn't take long to be born and matures in 2-3 years.

as far as who makes up the rules: well dogs aren't eaten in western cultures because we keep dogs for pets and the thought of eating fido turns most of us off so dog owners/lovers made that rule, the animal raisers (there's another word for that) want to make the most profit so they're gonna go with cheap animals that carry alot of meat and that will sell to the public so the raisers and the public decide that.

make sense?

Answer 4

The questions you have asked has been influenced western cultures, and "popular" culture for that matter.

What people eat varies from culture to culture. Why do we eat cows here? Mainly because we already have farms that raise cows to meet these demands (There are no dog farms are there?).

If you have cable, watch the food channel, where they often put up shows that introduce food that different cultures have. I believe the name of one show is "Bizzare Foods With Andrew Zimmerman."

Answering your last few questions, its not in a rulebook, but a globally accepted ideal. Most people feel it is wrong to kill a dog or a cow. Of course, it IS in a way "acceptable" (in this case, you should be using the word ideal) but doesnt mean it is accepted. In actuality, nobody made up any "rules," its just what our culture accepts as "right" foods and "wrong" foods.

Answer 5

I would say taste and culture

China - plenty of dogs get eaten
Cambodia - bugs and spiders along with pig, chicken, cow's and water buffalo amonst other things
Australia - Kangaroo
France - horse

Cambodia is probably a good example to use, just one of the reasons people started munching down on the smaller critters like spiders was out of necessity, the khamer Ruge marching everyone they didn't kill out to the countryside to work in communes with very little food. One way for people to get a little protein and keep strong was to pick up a bug and eat it. Of course this is very simplified, just something to think about.

Answer 6

Well it depends on the culture and abundance,like here were i live in the past we used dogs for hunting,herding and chasing way thieves,so obviously we cant eat sych a helpful creature,so we eat whats available and in abundance.A lot of people here in africa eat ostrich and the meat is very good i assure you.

Answer 7

Partly the general public and what they're willing to eat and also the availability of the animals (including ease of breeding and if they're endangered).....Profit isn't too much of a factor since if it's more expensive to breed then they'll simply charge you more.

Answer 8

Well like it has been said France eat horse all the time, Korea dogs but good point on the size thing, never thought about it till now, and the rules piece, poor old chicken ay. EDIT: Well thats sorted me out as well then. Thanks above.

Answer 9

if you look around the world i think you would be surprised to see what other cultures eat, yes you are right about endangered species Asian elephants are protected, also lots of other animals too and for the right reason. Dogs being eaten is only frowned upon in European country's, in china dog is eaten everyday. also horse meat in Belgium. worms / grubs in Mexico, seagull in India, Crocodile in Australia, Crocodile & Elephant in Kenya, Guinea Pig in South America, Ostrich in Australia & Kenya, Piranha in Brazil, Zebra in Kenya, shark in Iceland, Congealed sweetened pigs blood in Thailand, chicken testicles in Vietnam, Sea slug in Vietnam, Cuttlefish in Vietnam, Raw fish bowels in Vietnam, Cold shredded jellyfish in China, Smoked horse, sheep stomach in Kazakhstan, Wichity grub, & Camel in Australia, Emu in Australia, Raw ostrich & Springbok in Namibia,
Water buffalo skin (Laos) & Wildebeest in Tanzania, Smoked reindeer in the ice hotel, Sweden, Duck's gizzards in France, Smoked donkey in Italy, Turtle in Peru, Dog in China, Frog, inc head and guts in Thailand, Live lemon ants in Ecuadorand even ants scorpions bees, grasshopper, in fact there isnt really a lot we dont eat.

Answer 10

it's all cultural. Where I live (Belgium) eating horse meat is the most common thing in the world, while in the UK you're considered a vicious sadistic thing. The Chinese think eating dog is the most common thing. In central afrika they don't even care what kind of meat they eat. to them meat is meat irrespective of the animal. (never ask what you're eating when they serve you "viande de brousse")
it's a cultural thing no more no less