Special Note: Please note that this scenario is meant to be read as entertainment, not as an accurate prediction of the future. Also note that the viewpoints and opinions that may come across in this scenario are not necessarily the viewpoints and opinions of the author.
The Animal Civil Rights Act was a law that was passed by the Canadamerican government in the mid-21st century to make in vitro meat and vertical farming more acceptable to the general public.
Summary[]
The law basically states that "animals have the same civil rights as human beings" and that "no animals may be slaughtered for food, merchandise, clothing, or other purposes" within the borders of Canadamerica. During the early 21st century, the rising cost of food had everything to do with the increasingly unsustainable practices of "modern" farming. Once in vitro meat and urban skycraper farming become mainstream, the cost of food started to stabilize again. Producing meat from dead animals without using artificial hormones is one thing; but being able to grow meat without killing animals would be an outstanding accomplishment for human civilization.
Eventually adopted by the United States of Earth upon its adoption (along with the United States of Mars, the Lunar Protectorate, and all other human colonies except for Gliese 581 g), this law would ensure the future sustainability of all the planets that humanity would eventually colonize.
Animals that could not be saved from extinction in time will have their DNA recreated so that they be "resurrected" in a extinct animals' preserve like in Jurassic Park.