Well friends, pivoting off of my last fact about the dog and cat consumption in the US, I thought maybe everyone would like to understand how dog and cat meat consumption is actually banned in those 5 States I mentioned because unfortunately it’s not as straightforward as you may think.
Let me clearly state that it is illegal to sell dog and cat meat in the US but the issue here is that it is legal in 45 states to allow the personal consumption (Indian reservations are exempt from these restrictions). So while you cannot go into the meat department at the grocery store and buy dog meat or into a restaurant and order it, you can humanely kill and consume it at home in the majority of States.
In the 5 States where it is specifically banned, let’s truly see what that ban consists of. In California, you are prohibited from consuming the carcass of an animal that was traditionally or commonly kept or maintained as a pet. The violation would be a misdemeanor. In New York, you are prohibited from slaughtering or butchering a domesticated dog or cat to create food, meat or meat products for human or animal consumption. In Georgia, you are prohibited from selling dog or cat meat for human consumption. In Michigan, if horse or dog meat is not clearly labeled, it would be a misdemeanor to consume. And in Virginia, it is prohibited to unnecessarily kill an animal with a specific exemption for farming activities. Therefore since dogs and cats aren’t considered farm animals, it would likely get you in trouble if you were caught eating them.
Hopefully you can see that there are loopholes in each of these and certainly gaps in the arguments if you were to violate these restrictions. Clearly, it is unquestionably necessary to standardize the laws and make this consistent and transparent in every State and not just a select few. Mom has not uncovered any statistics yet regarding the consumption rate in the US but she continues to dig for them. Please make sure you retain this information so you can educate and inform more people about the need to have legislation in our own country amended to protect my 4-legged friends!
