PetScoop: Is It Legal to Turn Your Pet into Dinner?

Honestly, sometimes we wonder who we share the planet with. If you love cats, you have undoubtedly read about the very scary Gary Korkuc who was marinating his black-and-white cat, Navarro, in a cage in his trunk with the intention of turning him into dinner, when the police (luckily) picked him up on a routine traffic violation.

Is this even legal in the good old USA, where we all have rights, including our pets? Very possibly, depending upon where you do your cooking. Brian Palmer @ Slate Magazine has the scoop:

In most of the country, the legality of pet-eating would come down to the specific language of the general animal cruelty statute and how a judge interpreted it. Some states, such as Virginia, bar the unnecessary killing of an animal, with a specific exemption for "farming activities." In those places, it's very likely that killing a cat for dinner would get you in trouble, because the killing wouldn't be necessary, and cats aren't commonly associated with farming.

On the other end of the spectrum are states like Missouri, where very few restrictions are placed on when, why, and how an owner can kill his pet. In these areas, it would be difficult to lock up a cat-eater, unless his chosen means of slaughter were particularly inhumane.

But really, who would know?

Read More in: Cats | Food, Feeders and Waterers | Pet News

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