USDA Encourages Humane Slaughter of Animals

Shalev, Moshe

doi:10.1038/laban1104-14a

Regulation Watch
Published: November 2004

USDA Encourages Humane Slaughter of Animals

Moshe Shalev MSc, VMD

Lab Animal volume 33, pages 14–15 (2004)Cite this article

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On 9 September, the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) published a reminder¹ to livestock establishments of their requirement to comply with the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA)². The US General Accounting Office (now called the US General Accountability Office) recently released a review³ of the frequency and scope of humane handling and slaughter violations, actions to enforce compliance, and the adequacy of existing resources to enforce the Act. We address this issue because of the importance of proper euthanasia of laboratory animals, large and small.

In 1978, the Congress passed the HMSA to ensure that cattle, sheep, pigs, and other animals destined for human consumption are handled and slaughtered humanely. The FSIS, which is responsible for enforcing the act, issued this reminder because of the recent increase in congressional and public interest in the humane treatment of animals, and because the number of incidents of noncompliance FSIS documented in livestock establishments has increased over the last three years².

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References

USDA. News Releases: FSIS issues notice on humane handling requirements. (9 September 2004). http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/ NR_090904_01/index.asp.
7 USCA §1901 et seq. Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.
US GAO. Report to Congressional Requesters: Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (US General Accounting Office, Washington, DC, 2004). http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04247.pdf.
9 CFR Part 313–Humane slaughter of livestock.
Federal Meat Inspection Act. Title 21–Food and Drugs, Chapter 12–Meat. http://www.fda.gov/opacom/laws/meat.htm.
USDA FSIS. Notice. Humane handling and slaughter requirements and the merits of a systematic approach to meet such requirements. Federal Register 69(174), 54625–54627 (9 September 2004).
NIH. Notice. Enhanced public access to National Institutes of Health (NIH) research information. Federal Register 69(180), 56074 (17 September 2004).
NIH. Notice: enhanced public access to NIH research information. NOT-OD-04-064. (3 September 2004). http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/ not-od-04-064.html.