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Well, the first thing that comes to mind is the cats that were caged and skinned for the use of the fur that was used to make pretty little kittens and cats in various positions. They were sold here until animal rights had a fit about it and put an end to it.

First off, food and fur are two different things. Second, were the cats killed humanely? If skinning cats is such a horror, where's your sympathy for mink and rabbits and calves?

The second thing that comes to mind is how many would object to their precious little dog or cat appearing on a hook in the local grocery for sale (so long as it was FDA approved)?

*My* dog or cat is mine. Plenty of folks have pet hogs, and that Babe in the movie and Wilbur in Charlotte's Web were cute as all get-out. Does that mean we should stop eating pork? What you're missing is that one act is not moral and another immoral because you find one of them icky and not the other.A little intellectual consistency is all I'm asking for.

I don't care to go to any store and see a filthy rat, a cat, a dog, an iguana or an armadillo.

Then vote with your feet and dollars -- don't go to stores that offer those meats.

My culture does not eat these animals

If "your culture" is, broadly, American, then there are a lot of folks eating armadillo, possum, rabbit, squirrel, raccoon, and all kinds of other critters I'm not in a hurry to try. Dogs, cats, and rats have all found their way to the table, but generally only in desperate times. Iguanas aren't widespread fare, because they're not indigenous to North America, but Americans do eat the reptiles we do have around, from gators to rattlesnakes to Gila monsters.

When I moved out of my mom's house to fend for myself, I tried making chili according to Mom's recipe (more of a philosophy than a recipe, really). Mine was never as good, of course. Only after some prodding did I find out that Mom used venison -- she had friends who hunted,, and she didn't want to tell us when we were kids that we were eating Bambi. I need to make friends with more hunters so I can get hold of some good venison for my next batch of chili.

and the proof is that the FDA is seeking this stuff out.

The FDA regulates hygeine, not matters of taste. If there's enough demand for exotic meats, someone will set up a duly regulated slaughterhouse and butcher to serve the market. The issue is that these markets serve a relatively small market and have flown under the government's radar.

Assimilate is the issue. When are people here going to notice the difference?

So now assimilating means abandoning cuisine that isn't "American," however you define it? Oh, I hope not. I'm not that old, but when I was a kid, spaghetti, tacos and Sweet and Sour Pork were about as exotic as ethnic cuisine got -- and that in a fairly large city. Now, I'm not more than a ten-minute drive from Indian, Thai, Lebanese, Brazilian, Japanese, Moroccan and Cuban restaurants, among others.

Mock "diversity" if you must, but in areas like food and music, I find it a good thing. Joining the melting pot doesn't mean you don't bring your own ingredients with you. I, for one, have no problem with eating a massaman curry while listening to a good samba band and following up with a single-malt scotch. Only in America.

If these folks want to eat cat and dog or rat and iguana they can go to their country and eat it. I am sure they would expect me to assimilate.

Not really. When I was in Thailand, no one seemed perturbed by the fact that I mostly stuck with the familiar chicken and shellfish. I eventually tried the squid, and wasn't that impressed.

I did get a lecture on the various ways of preparing grasshoppers and centipedes, but I suspect they were just messing with the farang's head. I was never offered bugs at the table, and didn't see them in the market stalls. The old woman selling dried fish heads out of a wicker basket was kind of interesting, though.

And you have to get pretty far off the beaten path to find a country without a McDonald's, a KFC, or if not a big chain outlet, a burger or pizza joint of some kind. One rule of thumb: If you see Diet Coke (called Coke Light in much of the world), you're in a well-touristed area where you can expect to find Western cuisine.

An amusing (at least to me) aside: Khao San Road, the young-and-cheap tourist district of Bangkok (think a lot of backpackers and youth hostels) had a whole lot of falafel stands. Apparently, Thailand is a popular destination for young Israelis.

I am no animal rights advocate. I simply find it rather uncivilized and primative.

That's nothing but habit speaking. The belief that The Things I'm Used to are The Way Things Should Be. Why -- on what principle -- is killing and eating a dog less civilized than killing and eating a pig? As pets, pigs are as intelligent, loyal and loving as dogs. Anatomically, they're more similar to humans than any other non-primate -- that's why pigs are used for heart valve replacement surgery.

I suppose you can't wait for the living worms/larva next to the potato salad in the deli?

I'd rather not. I probably wouldn't go back to that deli. But I wouldn't call on the government to shut them down for serving stuff I don't like.

Shall we accept cannibalism too--afterall it is their culture? We just need to get the FDA to approve it and go along with their tribal laws.

There is a clear line between killing people for food, which is a crime everywhere, and killing other animals, which is done in every city and county every day. You have offered no such clear line between killing animals you like a lot, which is uncivilized and primitive, and killing animals you don't like so much, which is fine and dandy.

If there is a rational moral, ethical or legal principle under which it's acceptable to eat a hog but nor a dog, I have yet to hear it. If there's a legitimate distinction, I'd think someone would be able to articulate it. Since no one has, I can only attribute it to prejudice.