On this day in vegan history · December 20, 2018
Congress Makes Eating Dogs and Cats a Federal Crime
Buried in a farm bill nobody read cover to cover, Congress drew one hard line about which animals are food and which are not.
The facts
- Signed into law
- December 20, 2018, as part of the 2018 Farm Bill
- Original sponsors
- Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) and Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL), introduced March 2017
- Penalty
- Fine of up to $5,000 for each violation
- Exception
- Native American tribes performing religious ceremonies
On December 20, 2018, President Trump signed the reconciled 2018 Farm Bill into law, and tucked inside it was the Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act, first introduced in March 2017 by Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida and Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Republican and a Democrat working together. The new federal law made it a crime to knowingly slaughter a dog or cat for human consumption, or to ship, transport, sell, or donate one for that purpose, with an exception carved out for Native American tribes performing religious ceremonies. It was largely a symbolic fix: dog and cat meat was never a meaningful part of the American diet, and advocacy groups said the practice was still technically legal under the laws of dozens of states before this passed. But symbolic laws still say something, and this one said that some animals get a hard federal no while pigs, cows, and chickens get none of that protection.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
-
makes it illegal to knowingly slaughter, ship, transport, move, deliver, receive, possess, purchase, sell or donate a dog or cat or his or her parts for human consumption
Kitty Block, writing on the Humane Society blog, September 12, 2018
Source: Humane World for Animals (formerly The Humane Society of the United States) -
authorizes a fine of up to $5,000 for each violation
Kitty Block, writing on the Humane Society blog, September 12, 2018
Source: Humane World for Animals (formerly The Humane Society of the United States)
Why it still matters
It is the first time federal law has explicitly criminalized slaughtering a companion species for meat, and it exposes the line vegans keep pointing at: the same country that banned eating dogs and cats still raises and kills ten billion land animals a year for food, no federal law required.
Sources
This history is still being written.
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