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I went an picked up two boxes of pickling salt, in case I have to turn a deer into jerky.
Of course I would wait first for things to get "really bad" instead of the present state of "really stupid", and also wait to find an animal injured from a car, which needs to be euthanized... before I'd harvest a dog. It's not Stalingrad yet....

LD
 
That reminds me of “Three Dog Night” !

ApPETizer -Chihuahua Salsa & Chips. Main Course- New Yorkie Strips with French (bull dog) Fries! Lol
Got to say ‘meats meat’, and I had dog while in the Philippines. Had kangaroo bobcat, Fox, coon, ain’t tried possum yet, had gopher and woods rat, woodpecker, woodchuck, thumper, Bambi, and bulwinkle. Had all sorts of water bugs , snails,a worm or two, tried eel and didn’t much care for it. Would rather not eat catfish again.
Never had ‘long pig’. I know some folks that belong on a plate before Fido.
 
I see nothing wrong with horse meat - or kangaroo - or any red meat that's not human - (yet)

The point I was trying to make is that, The rise in popularity of corned beef in America coincided with the same period when cars replaced horses. The same time when millions of horses entered the U.S. food chain. The classic popular dish of corned beef and cabbage was likely made with horse meat during that time. Especially when you consider proximity of cattle vs. horses to the majority of Irish immigrants living in large cities. Large cattle production was in the west and poor Irish immigrants crowded the big cities along with lots of horses that needed disposing of.

Similar events happened around the Civil War. As Americans endured through the Panic of 1857 and a pre-Civil War recession, butchers on the East coast began to cut corners by secretly selling horse meat marketed as beef, and offering it at substantially lower prices to entice the meat-deprived public. Newspapers reported that Bostonians were indulging in “liberal quantities of sausages for lunch daily” -- until they found out they’d been eating horse.

Then suddenly, at the turn of the 20th century, horse meat gained an underground cult following in the United States. Once only eaten in times of economic struggle, its taboo nature now gave it an aura of mystery; wealthy, educated “sirs” indulged in it with reckless abandon.
At Kansas City’s Veterinary College’s swanky graduation ceremony in 1898, “not a morsel of meat other than the flesh of horse” was served. “From soup to roast, it was all horse,” reported the Times. “The students and faculty of the college...made merry, and insisted that the repast was appetizing.”
Not to be left out, Chicagoans began to indulge in horse meat to the tune of 200,000 pounds per month -- or about 500 horses. “A great many shops in the city are selling large quantities of horse meat every week,” then-Food Commissioner R.W. Patterson noted, “and the people who are buying it keep coming back for more, showing that they like it.”
National Headline, June 1902
In 1905, Harvard University’s Faculty Club integrated “horse steaks” into their menu. “Its very oddity -- even repulsiveness to the outside world -- reinforced their sense of being members of a unique and special tribe,” wrote the Times. (Indeed, the dish was so revered by the staff, that it continued to be served well into the 1970s, despite social stigmas.)
The mindset toward horse consumption began to shift -- partly in thanks to a changing culinary landscape. Between 1900 and 1910, the number of food and dairy cattle in the US decreased by nearly 10%; in the same time period, the US population increased by 27%, creating a shortage of meat. Whereas animal rights groups once opposed horse slaughter, they now began to endorse it as more humane than forcing aging, crippled animals to work.
With the introduction of the 1908 Model-T and the widespread use of the automobile, horses also began to lose their luster a bit as man’s faithful companions; this eased apprehension about putting them on the table with a side of potatoes (“It is becoming much too expensive a luxury to feed a horse,” argued one critic).
At the same time, the war in Europe was draining the U.S. of food supplies at an alarming rate. By 1915, New York City’s Board of Health, which had once rejected horse meat as “unsanitary,” now touted it is a sustainable wartime alternative for meatless U.S. citizens. “No longer will the worn out horse find his way to the bone-yard,” proclaimed the board’s Commissioner. “Instead, he will be fattened up in order to give the thrifty another source of food supply.”
Prominent voices began to sprout up championing the merits of the meat. Dean Hoskins, an influential veterinarian at N.Y.U., toured the Eastern states, lecturing in its defense. “It is palatable, tender, and sweet,” he told a crowd at one conference. “There is no reason that horses physically unfit for work, but otherwise healthy, shouldn’t be used as food.”
“There is no scientific reason why horse meat, now sold in some cities, should not be eaten,” another commenter opined. “It is sweeter than beef, but coarser, heavier, stringier and darker.”
The economics of the meat backed up these assertions: at 15 cents per pound, it was 3 times less expensive than beef and pork.
 
Beef aboard old ships was called salt horse. I bet even the most discriminating palette would have a hard time telling salted beef a year in the brine, soaked in ships water four months in the barrel, then boiled and served with ships bread from old horse treated the same way.
 
Back in the 70's there were some incidences of truckloads of deer that were poached and then shipped to one of the major U.S. cites. they were illegal, so were not sold as deer meat. ;)
 
Sounds like Miami... several have been arrested in that region doing the same thing with horses.

Only being it was sold in the black market or underground so too speak.
 
My first thought on reading this was: “we should hunt them now as they are an invasive species“
Then I though : Hold it, horses are native to the Americas they died out here when ruminates, that had evolved in Eurasia, invaded the Americas. Meanwhile horses invaded Eurasia where they bloomed.
Which one is the invasive?
I think I need another beer while I ruminate on this
 
I’ve a personal rule about not eating anything that eats only meat. Dogs or cats included. Also grizzly, lynx and cougar. I will eat black bear but only grain, clover or berry fed, not baited nor carcass or fish fed. I know that you don’t know exactly what they’ve eaten, but you have an idea based on when/where they were harvested.
Walk
 
It was a cute little dog. I’m a little dog fan. Have a Yorkie, Chihuahua, and a yorkie French bull dog mix. I admit it ima softy with them puppies.

We have had well more than a dozen cats and dogs as our cherished companions in our home over the past nearly 40 years. One of them was my beloved Yorkie, Oliver. He died in my arms 4 years ago, diabetes, CHF. I still miss him very, very much.
 
I’ve a personal rule about not eating anything that eats only meat. Dogs or cats included. Also grizzly, lynx and cougar. I will eat black bear but only grain, clover or berry fed, not baited nor carcass or fish fed. I know that you don’t know exactly what they’ve eaten, but you have an idea based on when/where they were harvested.
Walk
What about fish? They eat other fish, worms, bugs....
Biggest hornpout I ever caught was on a chunk of overripe ham.
Turkeys and chickens eat bugs, and pretty much anything else.... watched a group of my friend's chickens pull a poor unfortunate frog into 4 pieces, still alive, then fight over the pieces.
 
@tenngun I want to borrow a dozen really yippy teacup Chihuahuas, that don't know each other, and see how long it takes for me to walk them around the block.

Reminds me of the Tom Rush story about walking his wife's Chinese Crested on a retractable leash after they moved from New Hampshire to Montana. Said he felt like he was, "trolling for owls."
 
I new a old man that I was friends. with he was probably in his 78 range he told me he eat horse meat. He said it was sweat tasting to him. Hey if you're hungry you'll eat what you can . I was stranded once. Wood pecker was pretty dam good all white meat .
 
What about fish? They eat other fish, worms, bugs....
Biggest hornpout I ever caught was on a chunk of overripe ham.
Turkeys and chickens eat bugs, and pretty much anything else.... watched a group of my friend's chickens pull a poor unfortunate frog into 4 pieces, still alive, then fight over the pieces.
Fish? I’m not a huge fan but do like my Walleye. A predator fish for sure. Chicken? Love eggs, pretty much live on them, yes. Chicken itself I do eat, but don’t raise them. I have back when we lived on the farm and they ranged totally free. You are correct in them eating bugs, grubs and small critters they do happen to catch. However I would venture to guess the vast majority in our society today are all eating a “feed” within the confines of the large growers barns.
Now, as I said right off the bat, this is my personal rule. I did not say you must follow. Go ahead and eat your sewer rats or coyotes if you want.
Walk
 
Fish? I’m not a huge fan but do like my Walleye. A predator fish for sure. Chicken? Love eggs, pretty much live on them, yes. Chicken itself I do eat, but don’t raise them. I have back when we lived on the farm and they ranged totally free. You are correct in them eating bugs, grubs and small critters they do happen to catch. However I would venture to guess the vast majority in our society today are all eating a “feed” within the confines of the large growers barns.
Now, as I said right off the bat, this is my personal rule. I did not say you must follow. Go ahead and eat your sewer rats or coyotes if you want.
Walk

Not saying you were trying to get anyone to follow your personal rule. And certainly not trying to get you to change it. Just pointing out to folks that a lot of critters eat other critters, that most people don't realize or think about. Lobster?

Stay well my friend.
 
Got to say ‘meats meat’, and I had dog while in the Philippines. Had kangaroo bobcat, Fox, coon, ain’t tried possum yet, had gopher and woods rat, woodpecker, woodchuck, thumper, Bambi, and bulwinkle. Had all sorts of water bugs , snails,a worm or two, tried eel and didn’t much care for it. Would rather not eat catfish again.
Never had ‘long pig’. I know some folks that belong on a plate before Fido.

A fun fact that many folks don't know is that catfish should be bled before butchering. Hang them head up and cut off the tail just where the meat starts. It is surprising how much blood will pour out! Once the bleeding stops (a few minutes is all it takes), go ahead and clean as you prefer. I prefer to filet them. You would be shocked at the difference in taste, texture and color of the meat. Unbled catfish has a yellow cast, but once bled the meat is snow white. The taste is quite mild if done this way. It won't turn them into walleye filets, but it will certainly make them palatable.
 
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