Here Kitty, Kitty....

Here's a little idea from Australia that is sure to catch the attention of your local Humane society and the folks at PETA.

What do you do with your feral cat population, well if the folks in Alice Springs are to be trendsetters, you apparently invite them into the house not for, but as, dinner.

In fact, the idea of dining on the wild cats has become so popular in some quarters that a recent Alice Springs contest featured wild cat casserole.

For connoisseurs it's best advised to note that, the meat is said to taste like a cross between rabbit and, perhaps inevitably, chicken. Some have made contributions to a Wild Cat cookbook, where recipes are traded among those with a flair for a less tame version of their dinners.

The proponents of the feral cat feasting, suggest that more wild animals could qualify for the dinner table, with pigeons and camels apparently troublesome enough to be potential goulash.

Not sure of the meat to animal ratio, but you might think that it would take a fair number of feral cats to equal one wild camel, but then again if my memory of the old Bug's Bunny cartoons is correct, there's a lot of water in those humps...

Australians cook up wild cat stew
By Phil Mercer BBC News, Sydney

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Wild cats eat marsupials, lizards and birds Australians have come up with a novel solution to the millions of feral cats roaming the outback - eat them.

The felines are the descendants of domestic pets and kill millions of small native animals each year.

A recent Alice Springs contest featured wild cat casserole. The meat is said to taste like a cross between rabbit and, perhaps inevitably, chicken.

But wildlife campaigners have expressed their dismay that Australia's wild cat now finds itself on the nation's menus.

Cat stew recipe

Feral cats are one of the most serious threats to Australia's native fauna.

One of the competition judges found the meat impossibly tough and had to politely excuse herself and spit it out

They eat almost anything that moves, including small marsupials, lizards, birds and spiders.
The woman behind the controversial cat stew recipe has said Australians could do their bit to help the environment by tucking into more feral pests, including pigeons and camels.

But it was a recipe for feline casserole that impressed some of the judges at an outback food competition in Alice Springs.

Preparing this unusual stew seems simple enough.

The meat should be diced and fried until it is brown. Then lemon grass is to be added along with salt and pepper and three cups of quandong, which is a sweet desert fruit.

It is recommended that the dish be left to simmer for five hours before being garnished with bush plums and mistletoe berries.

Marinated moggie was not to everyone's taste. One of the competition judges found the meat impossibly tough and had to politely excuse herself and spit it out in a backroom.

Wild cats are considered good eating by some Aborigines, who roast the animals on an open fire.
This outback cuisine does come with a health warning.

Scientists have said that those eating wild cats could be exposed to harmful bacteria and toxins.