Eating cats should be legal

Just as clarification, the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 does not expressly ban the consumption of cat meat or even the retail of it; it has however, been misinterpreted to ban retail. In addition, many states have added legislature that specifically bans cat consumption and retail. For instance, California"s Anti-Pet Eating law bans the consumption of "any animal traditionally or commonly kept as pets" which is ridiculously subjective and vague. (1) Now for my initial argument have 4 main points. The first is meant to peremptorily dispel a common argument on the Con side and the next 3 will be reasons to vote pro. 1) Intelligence is not a factor. First I would like to point out that we already eat animals of greater intelligence. The argument that cats are smarter than your average farm animal and that this somehow puts them above an unspecified benchmark of intelligence that grants them exemption from consumption is, quite frankly, flat out ignorant. Pigs, which are the third most commonly consumed animal in the U. S. , have been proven to be more intelligent than cats, dogs, and even chimps. Adult pigs have passed memory tests that many three year old children can"t. Obviously this proves that cats have fairly low levels of intelligence compared to other commonly eaten animals and, consequently, intelligence is not a legitimate factor in determining the morality of eating cats. 2) Cultural Favoritism The overriding reason that people have rejected the idea of protecting one"s right to eat and sell cat meat is a cultural attachment to the animal. This is insanely hypocritical considering we as a nation are the highest world consumer of beef. Hindu"s, although a minority, have a religious attachment to cows and we ignore this while simultaneously restricting the consumption of an animal for a similar reason. In essence, what we are saying as a country by this is that the rights and protections of the majority"s ideology bears more weight than that of the minority. 3) Overpopulation We need to also address the enormous overpopulation of cats in the US. Cats are put down every day; in fact, 2-4 million cats are euthanized every year and of those approximately 860,000 were already in a shelter (2). This is a wasted food source. If people were able to donate or sell their cat to a farm or business for retail as meat that would benefit society more than sending them to an overcrowded humane society where they have a 1 in 4 chance of being euthanized anyways. And if a person or family wanted their cat to live on and find an owner they could still donate them to a now less crowded shelter where they will have a better shot at being adopted. I would also like to point out that many cats are left on the streets and these stray cats pose a threat to children and your pets; so, if you really love your pet kitties you should be in favor of the consumption and retail of cats as food which would give incentive to eliminate threats to your cat and replace them with an efficient food source. 4) Benefits National Health There is no logical argumentation against the fact that cat farming would effectively benefit national health. Cats are easily domesticated, require very little space, and are able to reproduce very rapidly due to their estrous reproductive cycle and large litters. A single cat could produce 6-12 pounds of meat (discounting the head, tail and bones) without all the genetic enhancement involved in farming other livestock. Compared to the small space they require and the low cost of production that"s a fairly large quantity of meat. Cat meat has often historically been used in times of famine due to the fact that it is a nutrient rich and more healthy form of meat much like rabbit meat. I look forward to reading my opponents arguments. (1) . http://www.leginfo.ca.gov...... (2) . https://www.aspca.org......