Vietnam's taste for cat leaves pets in peril

越南对猫的口味令宠物处于危险之中

Hanoi (AFP) - The enduring popularity of "little tiger" as a snack to accompany a beer in Vietnam means that cat owners live in constant fear of animal snatchers, despite an official ban.

河内（法新社）——在越南，人们总是喜欢就着“小老虎”喝啤酒，这意味着猫主人总是害怕自己的宠物会被绑架走，尽管官方严厉禁止。

At an unassuming restaurant next to a carwash in central Hanoi, a cat is prepared for hungry clients: drowned, shaved and burned to remove all fur before being cut up and fried with garlic.

在河内中心地带的一个小餐馆里，一只猫正准备被杀死以款待饥饿的客人：先是淹死，再剃毛，再把身上的皮毛烧光，然后再切碎，用大蒜炒。

"A lot of people eat cat meat. It's a novelty. They want to try it," said the establishment's manager To Van Dung, 35.

“很多人都吃猫肉，这是一种新事物，人们想尝试一下，”这家餐馆的35岁的经理Dung说。

Vietnam has forbidden the consumption of cats in an effort to encourage their ownership and keep the capital's rat population under control.

越南官方明令禁止吃猫，是为了鼓励人们多养猫以应对首都猖獗的老鼠。

But there are still dozens of restaurants serving cat in Hanoi and it is rare to see felines roaming the streets -- most pet-owners keep them indoors or tied up out of fear of cat thieves.

但是河内依然有几十家餐馆在提供猫肉，很难在街上看到猫跑——大多数主人将猫锁在家里或者绑起来，以免遭猫贼绑架。

Such is the demand from restaurants that cats are sometimes smuggled across the border from Thailand and Laos.

由于餐馆对猫肉的需求，所以有时候会从泰国和老挝边境走私过来。

Dung said that he had never had problems with the law. He buys his cats from local breeders but also so-called cat traders, with few checks on their sourcing.

Dung说，他不会做违法的事情。他从当地养殖者那里买猫，但是也从所谓的猫商人那里买猫，一般不查询这些猫的来源。

"Little tiger" is typically enjoyed at the start of each lunar month, unlike dog meat which is eaten at the end.

人们一般在农历每月的开头吃猫肉，不像狗肉，一般是在月末的时候吃的。

On a busy day, the restaurant can serve around 100 clients.

在最忙的时候，这家餐馆每天宰杀100只猫。

"I know in the United States and Britain they don't eat cat. But here we do," Nguyen Dinh Tue, 44, said as he chewed on a piece of fried cat meat.

“我知道在美国和英国人们不吃猫肉，但在这里我们吃，”44岁的Nguyen Dinh Tue一边吃着炸猫肉一边说。

"I don't kill the cat! But this place sells it so I like to eat it," he added.

“我自己不杀猫，但是这家餐馆有售，所以我就吃了，”他说。

-'We ate everything' –

- ‘我们啥都吃’ -

Vietnam's penchant for eating animals that are considered pets in many other countries came about largely as a result of circumstance, said Hoang Ngoc Bau, one of Hanoi's few trained vets.

越南人吃动物（在很多其他国家被当作宠物）的习惯主要是因为环境造成的，河内为数不多的正规兽医Hoang Ngoc Bau如是说。

"The country was once very poor, and we had a long war. We ate everything we could to stay alive," he told AFP. "Insects, dogs, cats, even rats... It became a habit."

“越南以前非常穷，而且经历了很长一段时间的战争。所以为了活下来，我们什么东西都吃，”他对法新社说。“昆虫，狗，猫，甚至是老鼠。。。这已经成为一种习惯。”

Bau decided to become a vet after his pet dog saved him from a poisonous snake when he was a child. "From that time, I had a debt to dogs," the 63-year-old said.

Hoang Ngoc Bau小时候被毒蛇咬，他的宠物狗救了自己一命，于是他决定成为一名宠物医生。“从那时开始，我算是欠狗狗一条命，”63岁的他说。

Dramatic changes to society and cultural attitudes in the once tightly-controlled communist country in recent decades mean that a growing number of Vietnamese now share his love of animals.

越南以前是共产主义严厉控制的国家，近几十年来社会和文化态度都发生了改变，这意味着有越来越多的越南人更加喜欢动物了。

But old eating habits die hard and pet owners have a battle on their hands to protect their furry companions from the dinner pot.

但是老旧的吃动物习惯难改，所以宠物主人们不得不采取措施保护自己的宠物。

"No one is breeding dogs and cats for slaughter. So nearly all the animals in restaurants are trapped and stolen," Bau said.

“没有人为了杀戮而养殖猫和狗。所以餐馆里所有的动物都是诱捕和偷窃来的，”Bau说。

"For me and other pet lovers in Vietnam, they're our best friend," added the vet.

“对于越南的宠物主人来说，这些动物是我们最好的朋友，”他说。

Yet some people manage to reconcile society's dual affection for cats.

但是有些人将养宠物和吃宠物完美的结合在了一起。

Le Ngoc Thien, the chef at one Hanoi cat meat restaurant, keeps a cat as a pet -- but when it is big enough he will cook it and get a new kitten to repeat the cycle.

Le Ngoc Thien是河内某家猫肉餐馆的大厨，他自己养了一只宠物猫，当这只猫年纪足够大时，他就会把它煮掉，然后再养一只新的小猫，就这样不断的循环下去。

"When my cats become old we kill them because according to our tradition when a cat gets old we need to change it and get a younger one," he said.

“当猫变老时，我们就会把它们杀掉，因为根据我们的传统，当猫变老时，我们就需要养一只新的小猫，”他说。

"When I first started working here, I was surprised so many people ate cat. But now, fine, they like it," he said, adding that demand appeared to be increasing each year.

我刚开始在这家餐馆工作时，我惊讶的发现竟然有那么多人吃猫肉。但是现在我淡定了，他们就是喜欢吃，”他说，而且需求量每年都在增加。

"Eating cat meat is better than eating dog as the meat is more sweet, more tender than a dog," Thien said.

“吃猫肉比吃狗肉好，因为猫肉更香更嫩。”

A cat sells for between $50 and $70 depending on how large it is and how it is prepared.

“一只猫肉可以卖到50到70美元的价格，主要看大小和做法。”

Many pet owners get fed up of the risks of letting their cats go outside.

很多宠物主人对自己猫咪所面临的风险感到忍无可忍。

Phuong Thanh Thuy owns a Hanoi restaurant and has cats to keep rats in check, but she has had to replace them regularly.

Phuong Thanh Thuy在河内开了一家餐馆，并养了一些猫来防老鼠，但是他的猫经常丢。

"My family is sad because we spend a lot of time and energy raising our cats. When we lose a cat we feel pain," she said as a newly purchased batch of kittens played at her feet.

“我们花了很多时间和精力来养这些猫，所以这些猫丢了后我们都非常伤心。”