Inspired by this thread. Is it illegal to eat dogs and cats anywhere in the US? How about illegal to buy or sell dogs or cats to be eaten anywhere in the US? I’m familiar of course with the cultural taboo associated with this activity, but don’t seem to have ever heard that it was expressly illegal to do so. I would imagine if it were, it would be a state thing only, not federal.
In California it is illegal.
Interestingly, there was an article recently about attempts in the Congress to ban the slaughter of horses for meat in the US. Although apparently every state makes human horse consumption illegal, there is a thriving export market for horse meat, so there’s interstate and foreign trade issues at play.
That makes me wonder about rabbits. They are both common on the dinner plate and as pets. Can I not get my lapin provencale in LA?
I don’t know about LA but I have seen rabit in resturants in other California cities.
I used to eat rabbit all the time in Colorado- I wonder if they have a similar statute?
I believe rabbits would not be considered traditionally a pet or companion animal, but more like livestock.
Are you sure about that? According to this site:
I wondered specifically about rabbits when that silly initiative was on the ballot a few years ago. Either there is some type of tortured semantics that apply, or everybody’s just being sensible enough to look the other way. I’ve occasionally seen rabbit in the supermarket in CA.
Then we have guinea pigs. They are consumed as food in several South American countries, which is, in fact, what Andean tribes originally domesticated them for. It’s not real common yet, but apparently immigrant communities from those places are continuing to do so.
There IS a thriving horse market in other countries. Nevada is where some of this legislation originated from (I, personally, think it’s BS, but whatever). There is, indeed, a huge market for horse meat in some European countries, and so they take the so-called “wild” horses and round them up, and sell them off for meat.
My best advice is that if the site you come across has something like “protection network” or “protection league” in the URL, take pretty much everything they have to say with a grain of salt - I have to deal with these people on a daily basis, and the majority of them are complete nutjobs. I can’t say I blame them for valuing equine companionship above human companionship, but there’s a point where it goes so far that it becomes a little creepy and fanatical.
As to the OP, I can’t say I’d want to eat cats or dogs. Most of the carnivore flesh I’ve tasted tasted…gross. I’ll stick with fat ol’ herbevores from now on.
~Tasha
Do they still send old horses to the glue factory? That was a cliché in fiction when I was a child.
Not to mention pet pigs. Extending protection to any animal “commonly kept as a pet or companion” seems decidedly vague.
Illegal to eat horsemeat? Not exactly. I can’t speak for other states, but in Indiana, it’s illegal to sell horsemeat for human consumption. However, if you buy a horse*, you can take it to a meat processing shop and have them butcher it for you. They charge you for the service, which is legal. You take all the meat home for your freezer, and if you don’t sell any of it, that’s legal, too. I am told it’s like beef, only a bit sweeter.
It’s legal to sell it as pet food, too, if labeled “not for human consumption.”
*At a horse auction, there’s often a lame or untrainable horse for sale, and they go cheap. Even after paying the processor, you can get a winter’s worth of meat for very little money.
There are a few rabbit sellers around here. One of them, every spring, puts out a sign; Easter Bunnies, live or dressed.