Bossel, I am amazed by your knowledge in China.
Cats & dogs are domesticated, no problem to eat them, just like cattle or pigs.
Of course I know the difference between domesticated animals and wild animals. I think probably its my English that got your confused.
The problem with SARS is that many Chinese want to buy these animals alive. The infection took very probably place on one of the markets where great numbers of caged animals are for sale.
That's the problem of the Avian Flu too.
from my experience with the Chinese I know here in Germany, I can say that they eat their meat always well done.
Yes, Chinese people cook most meats well done. But when it comes to cats, dogs and wild animals, they have different cooking techniques. Do they ever serve these delicacies to you in Germany?
In Europe deer & wild boars are shot & eaten.
I know! It's probably because European countries are old countries. When men were created by God, we would just eat whatever we could digest. But in North America, the consuming of dogs, cats, horses, monkeys and pigeons is frown upon because many think they are friends of humans. And as for myself, I don't eat a lot of stuffs ranging from ALL breeds of poultry to North-American-made chocalates like Godiva and Laura Secord.
I actually think a lot of Germans would rather taking walks with their dogs than hanging out with friends. Thay love their dogs! But that's only my personal impression. In Canada, some guys treat their cats like their girl-friends. I am not joking! I have a friend (a white guy) who turns down jobs that require a lot of travelling mainly because he wants to spend more time with his cat. And he will not switch to other brands of cat food just because they are on sales. He is afraid that his cat may not like the new brand and will get mad at him.
In China and North Korea, a lot of peasants would eat dogs that grow up with them. Some do so because they are hungry and poor but for the not-so-poor ones, I don't know...