[vamur]

Lobsters, shrimps or mussles are actually delicious, and are thus expensive. Insects or dog/cat meat on the other aren't, as otherwise they would have been adopted into worldwide diet long time ago. So today they still remain a cheap source of food in some third world countries.

[Lethe101]

I hate to correct you, but this isn't correct (your 'downvoted' status might reflect this).

Canine / felines are carnivores (omnivores these days, but you get the gist) and their muscle structure / diets cause them to taste 'off' and be tough fleshwise. Not to mention that they're worth more as biological weapons / companions.

There are also more scientific reasons, for example:

There was a quick deterioration in the men's physical condition during this journey. Both men suffered dizziness; nausea; abdominal pain; irrationality; mucosal fissuring; skin, hair, and nail loss; and the yellowing of eyes and skin. Later Mawson noticed a dramatic change in his travelling companion. Mertz seemed to lose the will to move and wished only to remain in his sleeping bag. He began to deteriorate rapidly with diarrhoea and madness. On one occasion Mertz refused to believe he was suffering from frostbite and bit off the tip of his own little finger. This was soon followed by violent raging—Mawson had to sit on his companion's chest and hold down his arms to prevent him from damaging their tent. Mertz suffered further seizures before falling into a coma and dying on 8 January 1913.[8]

It was unknown at the time that Husky liver contains extremely high levels of vitamin A. It was also not known that such levels of vitamin A could cause liver damage to humans.[9] With six dogs between them (with a liver on average weighing 1 kg), it is thought that the pair ingested enough liver to bring on a condition known as Hypervitaminosis A. However, Mertz may have suffered more because he found the tough muscle tissue difficult to eat and therefore ate more of the liver than Mawson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Mawson#Australasian_An...

It is highly likely that if those explorers had asked the original breeders of said animals, they'd have been told strongly that eating them was a bad idea.

[convivialdingo]

Lewis and Clark ate plenty of dog, though I doubt they ate Huskies. I imagine they ate dog meat because it was generally available and more sanitary.

http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/read/?_xmlsrc=1806-05-0...

[Lethe101]

They ate dog because the tribes they were visiting had little else: when in areas with other game, they preferred that.

Clark never ate dog, couldn't bring himself to break the cultural taboo.

In the dry areas of what is now eastern Washington, in fact, where there was little if any game and the only other choice was dried salmon, usually impregnated with sand, the men came to prefer dog.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/12/1204_031204_...

[DanBC]

Oyster are expensive because rarity. They used to be food for poor people.

http://www.missfoodwise.com/2013/03/beef-stout-and-oyster-pi...

[pvaldes]

Expensive because they are classified as "luxury". More than 91.000 Kg of oysters produced each year in Europe exclusively for human food.

[jotux]

>Lobsters, shrimps or mussles are actually delicious, and are thus expensive. Insects or dog/cat meat on the other aren't

Deciding something is delicious or not has more to do with culture and upbringing than actual taste.

[pvaldes]

Tongue receptors are the same in all humans. If fresh, properly prepared and cooked by a competent cook, lobsters, shrimps and mussels are one of the finest foods available. If an insect or spider can taste like this I will try it.

Cats are said to taste pretty much like rabbit. Edible, but nothing really special.

[maxerickson]

The ability to taste some compounds varies. For example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenylthiocarbamide

So everyone can taste bitter, but not always from the same things.

A similar thing is probably at work in people who find raw tomatoes extremely unpleasant.

[pvaldes]

I grant you that point. Food-allergies are also a problem.