I wonder do the sell the meat to the French

Gordon

CATS 'FARMED FOR SKINS IN EU'
May 8, 2003
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3009537.stm
BBC News has seen evidence which suggests that cats are being farmed for
their skins in the European Union.
It is thought that tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of cat
and dog skins are traded in Europe each year.
Campaigners say that now is the time for national governments or the
European Commission to act.
Europe, it seems, is a magnet for cat and dog fur.
Cat blankets, so the aficionados say, are good for rheumatism.
Dog pelts are often labeled misleadingly and sold as the fur of some
exotic, even mythical beast.
Since the US has banned the trade of cat and dog skins, the European market
has expanded.
A video seen by BBC correspondent Tim Franks shows one Belgian furrier
displaying a blanket he says was made from cats farmed in Belgium.
What is more, he says that stray cats and dogs are rounded up and skinned.
That would seem to contradict the assertion from the officials who help run
the EU at the European Commission that there is no cat or dog farming inside
the union.
"Let me say that cats and dogs are not farmed for their fur in the 15 member
states of the European Union," EU Health and Consumer Protection
commissioner David Byrne wrote to a British member of the European
Parliament last year.
Officials in Brussels repeated on Thursday that they had no evidence of cat
or dog farming in the EU.
They said it was up to national governments to ban the trade in cat and dog
fur.
Alsatian coat
So far, though, only Italy has brought in such a ban.
British MEP Struan Stevenson told the BBC that two million cats and dogs are
being killed in China alone each year, in order to satisfy demand in Europe.
He also said that he has seen videos of animals being skinned alive.
As evidence of the trade he has collected:
A blanket made out of four golden retrievers, bought in Copenhagen
Individual cat skins complete with eye-holes, paws and tails, bought in
Barcelona
A full-length coat made out of up to 42 Alsatian puppies, bought in Berlin
Campaigners accuses the European Commission of lacking the political will to
address the issue, arguing that the trade is not only morally repugnant, but
also a case of consumer fraud.
The British Department of Trade and Industry says it is examining the case
for more scientific testing and more accurate labelling.
But it says that scientific testing very difficult to do on account of the
expense and the shortage of laboratories capable of doing it