Short answer
No. Dogs and cats are predators that hunt with their fangs, and the Prophet ﷺ forbade eating every such animal. Their meat is haram in the Hanafi, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools, and Maliki scholars also avoid it, though some of their texts call fanged animals disliked rather than forbidden.
Dog and cat meat are haram, as are all predators that hunt with fangs. Slaughtering them does not make their meat lawful.
Other madhhabs
- Maliki
- The best-known Maliki texts class most fanged land animals as makruh rather than haram, and Maliki scholars differ over the dog; in practice they also avoid both.
Explanation
The Prophet ﷺ said that every predator with fangs is forbidden to eat. Dogs and cats are clear examples: both are hunters with fangs, and so are wolves, foxes, lions, tigers and bears. The ruling applies to domestic pets, strays and wild species alike, and it does not change if the animal is slaughtered with bismillah.
This is about eating them, not about living with them. A cat may live in a Muslim home and its saliva is not impure in the Hanafi school, though food it has licked is mildly disliked. Dogs may be kept for guarding, herding and hunting, and their rulings on touch and saliva are covered in is it haram to touch a dog.
The question sometimes comes up when travelling, since dog and cat meat are still eaten in a few places, or with dishes where the meat is unidentified. Where you cannot tell what the meat is, choose fish, vegetables or a trusted halal place instead. Animals the schools do allow are listed in which animals are haram.
The same principle makes pet food a related question: food for your cat or dog does not have to be halal for you to buy it, but pork-based food raises other issues, covered in touching and cooking pork.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-A'raaf 7:157
ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ ٱلرَّسُولَ ٱلنَّبِىَّ ٱلْأُمِّىَّ ٱلَّذِى يَجِدُونَهُۥ مَكْتُوبًا عِندَهُمْ فِى ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ وَٱلْإِنجِيلِ يَأْمُرُهُم بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَىٰهُمْ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْخَبَٰٓئِثَ وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَٱلْأَغْلَٰلَ ٱلَّتِى كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ فَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ بِهِۦ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ وَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ ٱلنُّورَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ مَعَهُۥٓ ۙ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ ﴿١٥٧﴾
Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful.
The general rule that the Sunnah applies to predators.
Sahih Muslim 1933
Sahih... كل ذي ناب من السباع فأكله حرام ...
"Eating any predator with fangs is haram."
Forbids dogs, cats and other fanged predators.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Dhaba'ih, on what may and may not be eaten. Fanged predators are not eaten.
- Mukhtasar Khalil with al-Sharh al-Kabir, Bab al-Mubah, on permitted foods. The Maliki position that fanged land animals are disliked.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.