Cat meat sold in Algiers as rabbit meat?

After donkey meat, which regularly causes a scandal in Algeria, it is the turn of cat meat. It was actually sold in the Algerian capital. The municipality of Gué de Constantine, under the Daira of Bir Mourad Rais, warned against buying rabbit meat in the market.

Update: The municipality of Gai de Constantine published a clarification in which it explained that the previous note had only been issued for preventive purposes and that no case of the sale of cat meat at the municipality’s butchers was recorded.

In its statement, this municipality warned consumers that some butchers and poultry suppliers are selling cat meat instead of rabbit meat. In this warning, the municipality of Gué de Constantine therefore calls on citizens to be vigilant and cautious when buying rabbit meat. The document advises consumers to only buy rabbits with the head and tail glued to the carcass.

This municipality is thus following in the footsteps of the Association for the Protection and Orientation of Consumers and their Environment (APOCE), which had already issued a warning and urged Algerian consumers to be vigilant. This information was widely shared on social media and went viral within hours. It is reminiscent of several scandals involving the sale of donkey meat by many butchers, especially during the Ramadan months, when demand is on the rise. The security services had on several occasions seized large quantities of fresh and frozen donkey meat, which was to be sold as beef.

It should be noted that as soon as the information got around on social networks, many netizens reported that cat meat is illegal. These netizens especially remembered that on the religious level, the animals that live on earth are of two kinds; wild and domestic. As for livestock, meat from species such as goats, sheep, oxen, camels is legal, but meat from horses and donkeys is discouraged. However, horse meat is less recommended than the others. But the other domestic animals such as the dog, the cat are illegal in Islam.