Earlier this year, Americans gasped as they witnessed beloved racehorse Barbaro pull up lame in the Preakness. His leg injuries were, and remain, life threatening. The question not on everyone’s mind: Would Barbaro suffer the same fate of 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand, who is widely believed to have been slaughtered in Japan for consumption?

The question is on the minds of Members of Congress, who may soon have the opportunity to vote on H.R. 503. The legislation would “prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption.” The House recently held hearings on the matter, and the legislation has amassed an impressive 203 cosponsors.

While no one likes to think that Mr. Ed or Smarty Jones could end up on someone’s dinner plate, it shouldn’t be a congressional priority to criminalize horsemeat. In 2004—yes, this issue has been around for quite a while—Paul Rosenzweig and Trent England explained why it would be unwise to adopt this prohibition. For one, we don’t need another federal crime on the books. They write,

Whether you view horses as just really fast cows or as some kind of majestic land dolphin, a new federal crime is the last thing we need.

The FBI should stay far away from pets--or, in some cases, entrees. As Rosenzweig and England write, we don’t need Congress to “start down the road of food criminalization.”