People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are at it again, this time fighting for the cats that lay down golden nuggets that eventually become civet coffee, aka Alamid.
The growing popularity of this unusual brew has a lot of producers mistreating these wild cats, putting them in captivity and making them eat more than the natural amount of coffee just to up the production of Civet coffee. “We actually received a complaint from a Westerner traveling in Bali, Indonesia,” says PETA’s Ashley Fruno over the telephone. The traveler was shocked to see that a civet farm was included in the tour, just to showcase how civet coffee is made. Of course, they had to look into it.
The group found similar conditions in the Philippines, specifically in farms up Mt. Apo. Because they are caged, no longer in their natural environment, the civets become anxious and go insane.
“A lot of this has to do with mislabeling,” continues Fruno. As in, producers will mark it has “sourced from the wild” when in fact, the cats are caged. “It then becomes difficult to verify.” So that’s why PETA’s stand is for the public to just drop Civet coffee entirely. “Purchasing a product that’s the direct result of animal abuse supports that abuse, which is why PETA is asking consumers to boycott civet coffee,” PETA campaigns manager Rachelle Regodon says.
Coconuts Manila ask the Philippine Coffee Board if they knew about PETA’s findings in the Mt. Apo area. Although the board has yet to provide certification, “we would immediately stop selling coffees that are found to be from caged animals or if found to be misrepresented by its processors,” is Ms Chit Juan’s prompt reply.
Civet is a well-loved coffee tradition and the Philippine Coffee Board only supports those communities they’ve personally seen and visited and say for a fact that said communities respect this tradition, like the ones in Sulu province. “This is the coffee which is wildly caught, and we only help sell this coffee at the moment.”
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