Pets : its what's for dinner in Zimbabwe

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

Pets being slaughtered in meat-starved Zimbabwe
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Pets are being slaughtered for meat in shortage-stricken Zimbabwe and record numbers of animals have been surrendered to shelters or abandoned by owners no longer able to feed them, animal welfare activists say.

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it could not feed surrendered animals or find them new homes and was being forced to kill them and destroy the corpses.

Animals, like people, are being hard hit by Zimbabwe's economic meltdown, with official inflation of more than 7,600 percent, the highest in the world. Independent estimates put real inflation closer to 25,000 percent and the International Monetary Fund has forecast it will reach 100,000 percent by the end of the year.

Vets have run out of the drug used to put down the animals and are relying on intermittent donations from neighboring South Africa. One veterinary practice was waiting for supplies to destroy about 20 animals, and on Friday could neither feed them adequately nor fatally inject them.

In its latest bulletin to donors and supporters, the SPCA said it launched an awareness campaign on "the ethical and moral issues regarding the killing and consumption of trusted companion animals."

"But in the face of starvation and the burgeoning number of stray and abandoned animals, the moral issues become far more complex and we should not be too hasty in our condemnations when animals and people are suffering equally," it said.

One animal rights activist, who asked not to be named out of fear of arrest, called the situation "too ghastly for words.

Zimbabwe's and international human rights groups accuse the government of intimidating, threatening, harassing and physically attacking critics or those seen as casting the government in a bad light.

Animal activists say they have been threatened with arrest for speaking out and SPCA offices were raided by secret police agents of the Central Intelligence Organization on Thursday. SPCA inspectors said they were ordered not to release details of surrendered, abandoned, slain or eaten pets.

Illegally slaughtered meat sells for more than 10 times the government's fixed price on the thriving black market. It comes in plastic bags of 22 pounds and more, containing bone, fat and offal and no indication of types or cuts of meat.

"You're getting brisket, shin, flank, rump and anything else that's available, all lumped together. It's meat, take it or leave it," the animal protection activist said.

"It is not illegal to eat dog meat in this country, but we have laws on how animals must be humanely slaughtered," he said

A court case is pending in the eastern city of Mutare, where a pet dog was butchered and eaten.

Police and SPCA inspectors were called to a shopping center in Harare earlier this month, where a man was offering frozen dog meat for sale from the back of a pickup truck, activists said.

ya know, the inflation rate in that country got me thinking - If you had 100k in american dollars and moved to Zimbabwe, you'd live like a king for years... even if you did have to munch on a bit of dog every now and then.

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[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

ya know, the inflation rate in that country got me thinking - If you had 100k in american dollars and moved to Zimbabwe, you'd live like a king for years... even if you did have to munch on a bit of dog every now and then.

The government would seize it from you.

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

The government would seize it from you.

eh probably. I guess it would be better to try something like that in Mexico or Argentina

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

You would have 30,000,100,000.00 Zimbabwe Dollars

 

[crunktimes.com 5,000+ posts]

I bet is taste like chicken

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

The cost of living is way above average salaries: teachers only earn around 2 million dollars a month while farm workers earn 96,000 dollars.

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

You would have 30,000,100,000.00 Zimbabwe Dollars

thats alllotttah dough. I guess.

I really am sorta gettin an itch to move out of the united states though.... maybe to somewhere that doesnt have a food crisis would probably be a better idea though

 

[WantedIsHere]

i say eat the pets, their animals and fair game in my opinion if i was starving i wouldnt hesitate to put a dog or cat on the table...

 

[goodstuff 10+ year member]

 

[WantedIsHere]

eh dark meat

 

[CaliforniabOY5 10+ year member]

I bet is taste like chicken

why would a dog taste like a chicken //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

I have guys that work for me from Ghana Africa and also Somalia and they actually work here as much as possible and send the money home so when they retire they can live like kings.One of the guys actually built his mom a house in Ghana with 4 or 5 bedrooms 3 full baths and a pretty nice garage for around 20k US.

I'm all for eating dogs, cats, whatever. I mean a quick death is better than a slow one (starving). If I was starving I would eat people, I won't lie.

 

[crunktimes.com 5,000+ posts]

eh dark meat

racist!

 

[WantedIsHere]

racist!

hella

 

[bose301s 5,000+ posts]

Meh, I'll eat pussy no problem.

Tou sick FU(KS, I meant cat.