If you spend five minutes on the internet, you’ll find a comment section claiming that feline meat is a staple in Chinese diet. It's a heavy topic. Honestly, if you ask the average person in Beijing or Shanghai, "Do they eat cats in China?" they’ll likely look at you with total confusion or genuine offense. It’s one of those cultural flashpoints where the Western imagination often runs wilder than the actual reality on the ground.
The short answer is: yes, it happens, but it is incredibly rare and increasingly taboo.
Most people in China love cats. They buy them expensive freeze-dried salmon treats and dress them in tiny sweaters. The "pet economy" in China is booming, worth billions of dollars, and cats are now the most popular pet in urban households, surpassing dogs in many metrics. But there is a small, fading fringe where tradition—or at least a specific regional history—clashes with modern ethics.
The Regional Reality of Where It Actually Happens
China isn't a monolith. You've got over 1.4 billion people spread across a landmass roughly the size of the United States. To say "China eats cats" is like saying "Europe eats horses." While horse meat is found in specific French or Italian butcher shops, most Brits would be horrified by it.
In China, cat consumption is almost exclusively tied to specific areas in the south, particularly in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. Even there, it’s a niche practice. There is a traditional dish called "Dragon, Tiger, Phoenix," which sounds like something out of a fantasy novel. It’s a soup. The "dragon" is snake, the "phoenix" is chicken, and the "tiger" is cat. The idea behind it was rooted in Cantonese folk medicine—the belief that cat meat could warm the blood or provide vitality during damp winters.
But talk to a 25-year-old in Guangzhou today. They aren't ordering cat soup. They’re ordering bubble tea and KFC. The practice is dying out with the older generation. It's becoming a historical footnote rather than a culinary trend.
The Legal Gray Area and Shifting Laws
Is it legal? That's where things get complicated. For a long time, there was no specific national law banning the consumption of cats or dogs. This created a loophole that "cat hunters" exploited. These aren't farmers raising cats for food—there is no such thing as a commercial cat farm in China. Instead, these are often people trapping strays or, more tragically, stealing pets from backyards to sell to underground markets.
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Things changed significantly in 2020.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs made a massive move. They reclassified dogs as "companion animals" rather than livestock. While cats weren't explicitly named in every local ban, the city of Shenzhen and the city of Zhuhai took it a step further. They became the first mainland Chinese cities to officially ban the consumption of cat and dog meat.
If you're caught selling or eating it there, you're facing heavy fines. The central government basically signaled to the rest of the country that "this isn't who we are anymore." The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this shift, as the government cracked down on the trade of all terrestrial wildlife. Even though cats aren't "wildlife," the tightening of food safety regulations made the unregulated cat meat trade almost impossible to operate legally.
The Rise of Chinese Animal Activism
The most vocal critics of the cat meat trade aren't Westerners—they're Chinese citizens. This is the part of the story that rarely makes it into international headlines.
Across China, there are hundreds of animal rescue organizations. Groups like the Capital Animal Welfare Association (CAWA) and VShine are on the front lines. They don't just post on social media; they intercept trucks. In 2023, activists in Suzhou intercepted a truck carrying over 1,000 cats destined for a slaughterhouse. They worked with local police to seize the animals, many of which still had collars on.
They’re fierce. They’re organized. And they represent the majority opinion.
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Public sentiment has shifted so fast it’s almost dizzying. A survey by the Humane Society International and their Chinese partners found that the vast majority of Chinese people have never eaten cat and have no interest in doing so. The backlash against "festivals" like the one in Yulin (which is primarily about dogs, but sometimes includes cats) is massive within China. Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, often explodes with millions of hashtags calling for animal cruelty laws whenever a new rescue story breaks.
Why the Misconception Persists
So, if it’s so rare, why does everyone keep asking, "Do they eat cats in China?"
Blame history and the internet. During periods of extreme famine in the mid-20th century, people ate whatever they could to survive. That survival instinct became a "fact" of Chinese culture in the eyes of outsiders. Then you have the "shock factor" of digital media. A video of a wet market in a rural village gets 50 million views, while a video of a state-of-the-art cat cafe in Chengdu gets five.
We tend to fixess on the outlier because it's provocative. It confirms a bias. But it's not the daily reality for 99.9% of the population.
Also, let's talk about the "meat" itself. In many cases where cat meat is found in low-end street stalls, it’s not even marketed as cat. It’s often passed off as mutton or pork to unsuspecting customers because it's cheaper to source (via theft) than to raise livestock. It’s a fraud issue as much as a moral one. People are being tricked into eating it, which has led to even more public outrage regarding food safety.
The Economic Shift
Money talks.
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The Chinese pet industry is expected to reach nearly 450 billion yuan soon. When a society starts spending more money on cat strollers than on their own shoes, the idea of eating that animal becomes unthinkable. Companies like Petkit and Royal Canin are seeing massive growth in China. You can find "cat hotels" in Shanghai that charge $100 a night.
In this economic climate, a cat is a "fur baby" (maohai zi). The cultural value of the animal has shifted from a functional pest-killer or a survival food source to a member of the family. This economic reality is the final nail in the coffin for the cat meat trade.
What You Should Actually Know
If you’re traveling to China, you don't need to worry about accidentally eating cat meat at a reputable restaurant or a standard street food stall. It’s just not on the menu.
- Check the City: If you're in Shenzhen or Zhuhai, it's strictly illegal.
- Recognize the Activism: Respect the local activists who are doing the heavy lifting to change laws.
- Mind the Geography: If you see it at all, it’s likely in very specific, rural, or traditional pockets of the deep South, and even then, it’s hidden.
- Pet Culture: Expect to see more cats in windows and on leashes than you'd ever see in a cage.
Moving Forward and Taking Action
The question of whether cats are eaten in China is transitioning from a "current event" to a "historical study." The momentum is entirely on the side of protection and companionship.
If you want to support the end of the trade, look into supporting organizations that operate within China. Groups like Lucky Cats in Beijing or the Guangzhou Volunteer Animal Protection Association work tirelessly to rehome strays and pressure the government for a national animal cruelty law.
Rather than spreading outdated tropes, the most helpful thing is to acknowledge the massive progress China has made in animal welfare over the last decade. Support the local rescuers, follow the legislative updates, and understand that the "tiger" in the soup is fast becoming a thing of the past. The real story isn't that a tiny fraction of people eat cats; it's that hundreds of millions of people are fighting to make sure it never happens again.
Next time someone asks you about this, you can tell them the truth: it's a disappearing practice being wiped out by a combination of new laws, a massive pet-loving youth culture, and a fierce homegrown animal rights movement.