US bans cat and dog meat as animal welfare laws take hold

It was an interesting week for the animal kingdom, as new bans were introduced in America and the UK, and 'no-kill' eggs went on sale in Germany

It’s rare for Americans to eat cats and dogs but until this week there were no laws against it in 44 US states. Getty Images

More and more, the world is waking up to the reality of our treatment of animals. New animal welfare rules are being enforced, more people forgo meat and new technology ensure fewer critters face cruelty. In the last week alone, three developments for animals took place in America, the UK and Germany.

Cat and dog meat is now illegal in America

It’s pretty incredible this wasn’t the case already, but as of this week the import, export and slaughter of dogs and cats for human consumption is illegal in all 50 states. It’s rare for Americans to eat cats and dogs, but there were no laws against it in 44 US states. This came into effect as President Donald Trump signed the $867 billion (Dh3.18 trillion) Agricultural Improvement Act. The signing of this act, which happens every five years, is not known for being a very animal-friendly affair – it often results in more subsidising of the animal agriculture industry – but this year, at least, cats and dogs won.

British pet shops no longer allowed to sell puppies and kittens

A whopping 95 per cent of the UK’s public consulted by the country's Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs supported a ban on the selling of kittens and puppies in pet shops. So now all third-party sales of dogs and cats under six months old are prohibited. It follows a government crackdown on unethical puppy and kitten farms in England. Battersea Dogs and Cats Home’s chief executive, Claire Horton, said: “Properly enforced, this will help put an end to dogs being used as breeding machines and kept in shocking conditions … The days of unscrupulous puppy dealers lining their pockets with no regard for animal welfare must now come to an end.”

World’s first no-kill eggs go on sale in Berlin

German scientists have found a way to determine a chick’s gender before it hatches with a 98.5 per cent accuracy rate, and the first chicken eggs – labelled “respeggt” – hatched using the new method went on sale this week. It will potentially put an end to the live shredding of billions of “useless” male chicks every year, a practice that’s common in the egg industry because males do not lay eggs and do not grow fast enough to be sold as chicken meat.

The patented process is called “Seleggt” and will determine the chick’s sex nine days after the egg has been fertilised. Male eggs are then processed into animal feed and female chicks left to hatch, which vegan activists would argue is just as cruel.

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