Eating any kind of meat, whether it be a pork sausage, beef burger, hippopotamus toe or shark-fin soup is arguably as merciless as being entertained at the expense of animals held in captivity. A recent Canadian study confirmed the detrimental effect zoos have on animals. The research revealed that animals kept in captivity are in poorer health than those left in the wild.

The only people not to show any signs of hypocrisy in this debate are vegetarians and vegans who, as well as not eating meat, would never dream of visiting a zoo. People like life-long vegetarian Anita Stevens, who believes gawping at animals behind bars is as cruel as eating them.

"Even at the age of 12 when our school arranged a trip to the zoo I pretended I was ill so I didn't have to go. Zoos are as barbaric as eating meat and wearing leather shoes. I don't know how these so-called experts can bleat on about selling exotic animal meat at a zoo in China as being socially irresponsible and lacking humanity, when the very essence of a zoo exploits animals for the greed and pleasure of man," Ms Stevens said.

While China may be one of the few countries in the world to offer the meat of captive animals on the menu in a zoo restaurant, raising livestock in confinement is a global phenomenon. Why are farms in which animals never see daylight any less barbaric than eating crocodile or other caged animals at a zoo? But because factory farming produces the highest output of meat at the lowest possible cost, and because it is widely practiced, it has become more "accepted" than the "insensitive" menu available at the Beijing zoo.

The crux of the argument boils down to convention and what is socially acceptable. Nobody turns a hair to somebody tucking into a juicy steak or a quarter pounder with cheese next to a family of caged rhinoceroses, but put rhinoceros on the zoo's menu and we get a media-fuelled uproar. The same has to be said about factory farming. Despite the efforts of animal welfare activists, there is no "shock" or intense media coverage; because modern agriculture that achieves maximum output at the expense of animal welfare is universally accepted.

One thing is for sure. If people knew the amount of suffering animals across the globe went through to produce their MacDonald's burgers and their Kentucky Fried Chicken, their gripes about shark-fin soup being served in a Beijing zoo would seem trivial by comparison.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.ccgp-fushun.com/opinion/node_7077604.htm