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- Can I feed my pet milk and meat?
- Can plastic dishes be used for milk and meat if cleaned carefully in between?
- Can an animal be tranquilized before shechita (ritual slaughter)?
Feeding ones pet milk and meat means that the person is benefiting from the mixture, and therefore one is not permitted to do so (the poskim write that animals belonging to other people, and even stray/wild animals are included).
However, the issur (prohibition) of hanaa (benefit) from milk and meat applies only when the milk and meat are cooked together. This means that pets can be given milk and meat that are not cooked together and of course they don't have to wait between milk and meat. Ready made dog food should not have milk and meat in it, because it usually is prepared through some form of cooking.
Sources:Rama, Shach, and Taz, Yoreh Deah 87:1. The principle is that the issur of hanaa includes only milk and meat that were mixed in a manner that is Biblically prohibited. This would exclude chicken, and non-kosher animals from the prohibition. Maharshal, mentioned in the Shach and Taz disagrees with the Rama and doesn't permit hanaa from milk and meat of Rabbinical prohibition.
Answer: One may not use plastic dishes/utensils for both milk and meat, without kashering them in between. There are different opinions as to whether plastic can be kashered, so a local Rabbi should be consulted.
There are poskim who permit the use of glass dishes for both milk and meat, provided they are carefully cleaned in between.
Sources: Plastic may be used for both milk and meat when cleaned carefully in between, and provided that one eats only cold food on the dishes. Also the dishes may become meat/milk oriented if milk or meat is soaked in them for an extended period of time. Therefore as a rule, it is wise not to use plastic dishes for milk and meat unless it is for a temporary use, the dishes are cleaned carefully in between, nothing is soaked in them, and they are not used for hot food. In the answer to this question, I mentioned the general rule. See Yoreh Deah 121:1, Badei Hashulchan Y.D. 93:16.
Another important note to this halacha is that Ashkenazim do not (excluding certain extenuating circumstances) kasher utensils in order to change their type of use from milk to meat or visa versa, unless the utensils are being kashered for Pesach. Once they are being kashered for Pesach one may also change their use from milk to meat or the opposite. Magen Avraham Orach Chaim 509:11, mentioned in Mishna Brura 509:25.
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