Snake Bite Chicken..(maybe a little rough)

[CTReptileRescue]

This is an excerpt from:
HerpDigest.org: The Only Free Weekly Electronic Newsletter That Reports on The Latest News on Herpetological Conservation and Science
Volume # 9 Issue #24, 6/2/09
Publisher/Editor- Allen Salzberg

Snake-Bite Chicken 'Off The Menu' - China's Health Authorities Are Reported To Be Putting A Stop To Restaurants Serving Chickens Which Have Been Bitten To Death By Poisonous Snakes.

BBBC- 6/1/09 The dish, which is served by a small number of restaurants in Guangdong and Chongqing, is billed as detoxing.

But it has generated a storm of controversy in the media and among bloggers after a video of its preparation was circulated online.

The video shows a cook holding a snake and forcing it to bite a live chicken.
A week of intense internet discussion has reached the near-unanimous decision that it is cruel to kill live chickens by forcing deadly snakes to bite them repeatedly.

Some voices noted, however, that they found the cooked dish delicious.
"It's disgusting and really cruel," read one post on the popular portal sina.com.cn.

"Not only is it cruel and blood-thirsty, but totally amoral," the Chongqing Business Daily cited a neighbour to one of the restaurants as saying.
"Although nobody has been poisoned, this at the very least is an irregular way of slaughtering poultry," the business newspaper quoted a local health official as saying.

According to Reuters news agency, health authorities in Guangdong have already told restaurants to stop serving "poisonous snake-bitten chicken". It said officials in Chongqing had joined the ban.

Restaurants in China have long specialised in exotic dishes which have provoked condemnation from animal rights activists and health watchdogs - such as monkey brains scooped from a live animal, civet cat and deer foetus soup

I hope it was ok with the mods that I posted the above herpdigest link
Rusty

[Ben Biscy]

This is an excerpt from:
HerpDigest.org: The Only Free Weekly Electronic Newsletter That Reports on The Latest News on Herpetological Conservation and Science
Volume # 9 Issue #24, 6/2/09
Publisher/Editor- Allen Salzberg

Snake-Bite Chicken 'Off The Menu' - China's Health Authorities Are Reported To Be Putting A Stop To Restaurants Serving Chickens Which Have Been Bitten To Death By Poisonous Snakes.

BBBC- 6/1/09 The dish, which is served by a small number of restaurants in Guangdong and Chongqing, is billed as detoxing.

But it has generated a storm of controversy in the media and among bloggers after a video of its preparation was circulated online.

The video shows a cook holding a snake and forcing it to bite a live chicken.
A week of intense internet discussion has reached the near-unanimous decision that it is cruel to kill live chickens by forcing deadly snakes to bite them repeatedly.

Some voices noted, however, that they found the cooked dish delicious.
"It's disgusting and really cruel," read one post on the popular portal sina.com.cn.

"Not only is it cruel and blood-thirsty, but totally amoral," the Chongqing Business Daily cited a neighbour to one of the restaurants as saying.
"Although nobody has been poisoned, this at the very least is an irregular way of slaughtering poultry," the business newspaper quoted a local health official as saying.

According to Reuters news agency, health authorities in Guangdong have already told restaurants to stop serving "poisonous snake-bitten chicken". It said officials in Chongqing had joined the ban.

Restaurants in China have long specialised in exotic dishes which have provoked condemnation from animal rights activists and health watchdogs - such as monkey brains scooped from a live animal, civet cat and deer foetus soup

I hope it was ok with the mods that I posted the above herpdigest link
Rusty

it's amazing that people don't realize there are more important things to do with their time than cry about someone's culture and cultural practices. land of the free? my ancestors must be rolling....

[blackcrystal22]

it's amazing that people don't realize there are more important things to do with their time than cry about someone's culture and cultural practices. land of the free? my ancestors must be rolling....

If it involves abuse of animals, then yes, I think people are using their time wisely to stop inhumane practices.

If you have animal welfare for your snakes, then you should also have the same welfare for other animals, or I would consider the animals you own to be treated with the same disrespect that you feel towards other animals.

[Ben Biscy]

If it involves abuse of animals, then yes, I think people are using their time wisely to stop inhumane practices.

If you have animal welfare for your snakes, then you should also have the same welfare for other animals, or I would consider the animals you own to be treated with the same disrespect that you feel towards other animals.

i don't see people complaining about raising chickens in 12x12 cages, being pumped steroids and growth hormones, or being strangled and decapitated..... chicken farms are one of the cruelest operations i've ever witnessed in person.

however kfc is always appetizing, isn't it? it's ok if we eat it?

they're eating theirs too.

[Ben Biscy]

If you have animal welfare for your snakes, then you should also have the same welfare for other animals, or I would consider the animals you own to be treated with the same disrespect that you feel towards other animals.

i would agree to that to a certain extent. but, when it comes to pests (spiders, mosquitos, vermin) things change a bit. for instance, some people are phobic of snakes, and want to save the rats. i am phobic of rats, but deal with them so i can care for my animals. does that mean i love my feeders? no, it certainly does not. i care for them because doing so means i'm caring for my snakes. i will kill a rat in a heart beat to protect my animals from being bitten.

perspective can be a real pain in the butt.

[Qetu]

it's amazing that people don't realize there are more important things to do with their time than cry about someone's culture and cultural practices. land of the free? my ancestors must be rolling....

agreed. i dont understand why but im assumeing these people get off at ruining things for others because they have no traditions themselves. losers.

[frankykeno]

i don't see people complaining about raising chickens in 12x12 cages, being pumped steroids and growth hormones, or being strangled and decapitated..... chicken farms are one of the cruelest operations i've ever witnessed in person.

however kfc is always appetizing, isn't it? it's ok if we eat it?

they're eating theirs too.

Actually Ben quite a lot of people complain about the issues surrounding the commercial raising of a number of our food animals.

[camb]

i don't see people complaining about raising chickens in 12x12 cages, being pumped steroids and growth hormones, or being strangled and decapitated..... chicken farms are one of the cruelest operations i've ever witnessed in person.

however kfc is always appetizing, isn't it? it's ok if we eat it?

they're eating theirs too.

I DO see plenty of people complaining about those very issues, quite often.

[MsPrada]

I DO see plenty of people complaining about those very issues, quite often.

Same here. I go to college and one of the things that happen on campus is an ag awareness week where all the agricultural clubs and whatnot get together and talk about what they do. PETA and a large group of other clubs and groups get out with picket fences and give out brochures. So yeah, people do complain about all that stuff too.

I guess for me the only thing I have an issue with is that a lot of people, not all, do no educate themselves on why some practices are done or that there are farms that do things differently. Granted, a large amount do not kill animals in humane ways and raise them poorly, but there are a few that don't and it seems that a lot of them are flowing in the right direction. It just takes time. But that beside the point.

So does the poison not enter the bloodstreams of people eating the meat? I guess cooking could help it or whatever, but it seems to me that some of the poison would get into the system of the person eating the chicken. Maybe it gives it a new flavor?

[WingedWolfPsion]

The people decrying the attack on others' traditions are sort of off the issue, here--snake-bitten chicken isn't some traditional dish, it's new. It's simply an inhumane way to slaughter a chicken. I'm not sure the venom can survive the cooking process, but if so, then it also poses a hazard to the person consuming it.

The fact that factory farming is inhumane does not somehow excuse a different inhumane slaughter practice. It's also a sure bet that very few people actually approve of factory-farming practices...but chicken not raised that way is more expensive, and our pocketbooks are often the bottom line. If the USDA revised its guidelines, everyone would applaud (save perhaps the factory-farmers). The issue here, though, is inhumane slaughter, not inhumane husbandry.

Factory-processed chickens are generally killed in a relatively humane fashion. It's quick, if not painless. A snake bitten chicken would take longer to die, and would be in agony the entire time.

Tradition is not some sacred, inviolable thing. Traditions are not automatically valuable--they aren't something that automatically has to be preserved. Cultures evolve as people learn. Those that don't change will ineviteably die. Ethics change over time as well--as they should. In 100 years, the way we treat livestock now will probably be condemned as very cruel, and it won't be a practice that deserves to be maintained. (I am not a PETA-person...PETA is an extremely stupid and hypocritical organization. Humans are omnivores, and livestock can be raised in a fashion which actually benefits the enviroment more than raising crops alone. Few people realize that prairie land can be managed properly with cattle-grazing to preserve it as an ecosystem for wildlife--but if it's turned over to raising crops, the ecosystem is destroyed).