Italian State TV Suspends Cooking Show Host Beppe Bigazzi After he Voices His Love of Eating Cats

Wow. One sick guy. His quotes below say it all. Be careful…they’ll make your stomach turn.

Article:

Cat stew lover skewered in Italy

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100217/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_cat_stew

AP – This Sept. 3, 2003 photo made available Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 shows cooking show host Beppe Bignazzi … .By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer Frances D'emilio, Associated Press Writer – Wed Feb 17, 5:51 pm ET

ROME – Italian state TV has suspended a cooking show host who shocked the nation by saying cat stew is a Tuscan delicacy he swears he has enjoyed many times.

RAI TV confirmed on Wednesday that it had suspended Beppe Bigazzi, the 77-year-old host of a popular morning program that offers food tips and recipes in a country fiercely proud of its cuisine.

When his 27-year-old female co-host looked stunned as Bigazzi said he has eaten cat stew "many times," the white-haired, grandfather figure defended his tastes.

"Why, people maybe don't eat rabbit, chicken, pigeon?" Bigazzi said. He could have added horse meat, which many butchers and supermarket meat departments stock.

"Who's not fat, kills the cat," is how Bigazzi began his lighthearted prattle about cat stew.

Bigazzi claimed cat stew was a Tuscan specialty near the Arno river valley, but co-host Elisa Isoardi looked so embarrassed she ducked behind a cart of fresh salad greens whose healthy virtues the two were supposed to be chatting about.

"Cat, soaked for three days in the running water of a stream" in Tuscany "comes out with its meat white, and I assure you — I have eaten it many times — that it is a delicacy," Bigazzi continued.

His critics included Health Ministry Undersecretary Francesca Martini.

"Cats are pets protected by law," Martini noted, specifically against "cruelty, maltreatment and abandonment."

She lamented in a statement issued by the Health Ministry that Bigazzi's advocating cat stew "hurts sensibility, which is fortunately steadily growing, of citizens toward animals."

The director of the RAI channel the show runs on, Mauro Mazza, called the decision to suspend Bigazzi for an unspecified amount of time as "painful but inevitable."

Only a few moments after revealing his startling recipe, Bigazzi seemed to anticipate he would be barraged with criticism. "Now there will be letters from nature lovers. Why don't they defend rabbits?" he asked.

By Wednesday, two days after the showed was broadcast, the YouTube video clip had recorded more than 55,000 hits, and more than 800 comments registered.

eBay Finally Does Good Move: Bans Sale of Cat and Dog Pelts in Austria, Germany, Switzerland: Soon May Extend to France, Italy and Spain: Why Not US?

It’s about time! Can you imagine that it took this long to do such an obvious move? Yet, it stops short, as is stated below, “a move to do the same in the U.S., where eBay was founded, is being considered…”

So why would you not also extend the ban to the US? No sense at all.

Article:

eBay bans sale of cat and dog pelts in Germany, other European countries

http://news.smh.com.au/technology/ebay-bans-sale-of-cat-and-dog-pelts-in-germany-other-european-countries-20080715-3f6y.html

The online marketplace eBay plans to ban the sale of dog and cat pelts on its German-language Web sites starting Tuesday.

Alexander Witt, a spokesman for eBay in Germany, said the ban was in response to protests from animal rights groups that believe clothing and other goods claiming to contain rabbit or mink fur are actually made illegally from cats and dogs.

"We want to forbid these dealers from our marketplace," he said, adding that the ban would encompass eBay's sites in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

Witt said the ban would be extended to France, Italy and Spain, with more European countries to follow. A previous ban is already in place in the United Kingdom, Witt said.

A move to do the same in the U.S., where eBay was founded, is being considered, he said.

"That is a conversation, but no decision has been made yet," Witt said.

Peter Pueschel, a program leader with the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said in a statement that he welcomed eBay's decision as an important step in animal protection.

"We hope that others will follow worldwide, and that such products will be taken off the market," Pueschel said.

The online marketplace does not allow the sale of live animals on its Web site. Rules governing the sale of plants vary widely from country to country, Witt said, often depending on customs regulations.