Like most news blurbs, there aren't a whole lot of details to this one, and 95% of them out there say the same thing...thanks AP!
Bakersfield-area man accused of cooking, eating cats
Okay...
Maybe it's just the 'contrary stay out of our private lives libertarian' in me...but I really don't have a problem with this. And I'm a Cat Guy! My family has had cat's for pets since I was 7 years old...the only time I didn't have a cat in my house was the 2-year period I was in Navy training and lived in the barracks.
With the caveat that this guy isn't killing and eating his neighbors pets(and the few articles with any details specify no neighborhood pets are missing) then I really don't see a difference between what this guy is doing, and what I would like to do someday with a few rabbits in my back yard.
It's not a choice I would personally make, just because I have never heard anything positive about cats from people I know who have tried it overseas, AND rabbits are supposed to be much more efficient while also still being at least marginally socially acceptable.
So...the charge they have this guy on is 598b(a) of the California Penal Code, which addresses possession/eating 'any animal traditionally or commonly kept as a pet or companion' with an exception for 'production, marketing, or disposal of any livestock, poultry, fish, shellfish, or any other agricultural commodity produced in this state'
Well, that's perfectly clear...
Okay...the guy was breaking a law that was on the books, just like smoking marijuana is still technically against the law. He did 15 days in jail after pleading Nolo Contendere.
I worry about two things from this story though. First there is the nature of creeping incrementalism...how long until you are persecuted/prosecuted for having rabbits in your back yard? Second is the number of folks SCREAMING that this should be a felony.
Once again...maybe I'm broken, with some messed up morals...but a felony? For using a protein source? If there weren't MILLIONS of unwanted cats being put down each year, I might be okay with it being a misdemeanor like it is right now...but in the end, these are animals...while MY cat is special to ME....your cat isn't, and what YOU want to do with it is YOUR right....
Seems like a silly law. Plenty of other people seem to have no problem with it.
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