Heading to Italy? Leave Your Cat at Home

Many restaurants in the Italian region of Tuscany offer wild boar on their menus. But apparently things can get much more exotic than that. According to the Associated Press:

Italian state TV has suspended a cooking show host who shocked the nation by saying cat stew is a Tuscan delicacy he swears he has enjoyed many times.

... When his 27-year-old female co-host looked stunned as (Beppe) Bigazzi said he has eaten cat stew "many times," the white-haired grandfather figure defended his tastes. "Why, people maybe don't eat rabbitt, chicken, pigeon," Bigazzi said.

... "Cat, soaked for three days in the running water of a stream" in Tuscany, "comes out with its meat white, and I assure you -- I have eaten it many times -- that it is a delicacy," Bigazzi continued.

The Italian Health Ministry issued a statement reminding Bigazzi and the public that cats "are pets protected by law."