CLEVELAND – A FOX 8 investigation changed a law prohibiting the remains of dogs and cats from becoming an ingredient in pet food.
The Office of Governor Mike DeWine announced he signed Senate Bill 164 into law Monday.
The revised law, known as Goddard’s Law, is named after FOX 8 Meteorologist Dick Goddard. The updated law will stiffen penalties associated with companion animal cruelty.
As it relates to pet food, the law prohibits adulterated pet food and its distribution. The law states pet food is adulterated if it “contains any dog or cat remains, regardless of how the dog or cat died or was killed.”
According to the new law, pet food is adulterated if it contains any animal remains from an animal euthanized by any drug injected intravenously or any drug injected through another nonvascular route. More details on what that means here.
The change in law was first sparked by a 2018 award-winning story by reporter Maia Belay. The original story resulted in a bill shortly after the report aired.
However, its journey to becoming law would take several more years. The bill was eventually added as an amendment to the revised Goddard’s Law in December.
