Cat

Dec 20^th, 2012

Here’s a fun little holiday story.

There was this cat that kept hanging around my compound. He was owned by the same neighbor that owned Small Cat, but when the neighbor moved Small Cat went and this cat refused to leave. He would hang out with me as I gardened and I would feed him leftovers. I never claimed to own him (and I even tried not feeding him for a while so he would leave) because having a pet is not a responsibility I want right now, but still he was hungry and I had food so I would feed him from time to time.

Well, yesterday I was walking to the latrine and I noticed one of my neighbors roasting something over a propane tank. It looked a lot like cat. I kept staring, partially from fascination at the way this guy was roasting this animal, and partially because I recognized the animal he was roasting. He was cooking my friend.

The most disturbing part was not really the fact he was cooking a cat, it was the fact he didn’t bother cutting off anything before roasting it. The feet and tail were all attached. The head was in perfect condition. What bothered me so bad was I saw my friend’s face while his body was being cooked. If it had just been a chunk of meat being cooked and I had somehow found out later that it was cat, then I think I wouldn’t have internally combusted. Unfortunately for me I saw everything. I was fully aware Ghanaians ate cat, but I thought it was more of an “out in the bush when there is no other meat” type thing, I didn’t think educated teachers killed and ate cat. I mean, I get it. When you look around it makes sense. If you are going to eat the goats, chickens and sheep that wander around aimlessly (not to mention you kind of feed them too by throwing out your veggie scraps) why wouldn’t you eat a “stray” cat?

I don’t know if my old neighbor knows that his pet was eaten.

I was offered some of cat. I refused adamantly and told them I don’t eat cat. I think my neighbor knew this cat was my friend because he offered to get me a new friend. I politely declined. Later that night there were Christmas carols sung as, I assume, cat was being devoured.

Here’s what was floating around in my head as I was trying to come to terms with what I had witnessed.  Is this experience making me a better person? Do I want to become someone who is fine with any old animal being eaten? Am I too compassionate? Am I not compassionate enough? Is it ok that I turned my cheek or should I of tried to do some type of “cultural exchange”? Is it ok that I was more disturbed by the fact it was recognizable than the fact it was my friend? Is it ok that I joked around about the consumption of my friend so the Ghanaians wouldn’t see I was disturbed?

If this had happened in America, there is no doubt in my mind the man would have been fined and labeled mentally disturbed, but this is not America and here it is perfectly acceptable to eat a cat. So, is it better or worse? Are Americans insane for caring about cats and dogs, but not chickens and goats? If goats and sheep wandered our neighborhoods the same way cats and dogs do, would we stop eating them, or would we begin to see all animals as equally delicious?