I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2433

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to regulate the commercial

transportation of horses for slaughter, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 29, 1995

Mr. GOODLING introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to regulate the

commercial transportation of horses for slaughter, and

for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Commercial

5 Transportation of Horses for Slaughter Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. COMMERCIAL TRANSPORTATION OF HORSES FOR

7 SLAUGHTER.

8 Public Law 85–765 (7 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) is amend9 ed by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘TITLE II—COMMERCIAL TRANS2 PORTATION OF HORSES FOR

3 SLAUGHTER

4 ‘‘SEC. 201. FINDINGS.

5 ‘‘Congress finds that, to ensure that horses sold for

6 slaughter are provided humane treatment and care, it is

7 essential to regulate the transportation, care, handling,

8 and treatment of horses by any person engaged in the

9 commercial transportation of horses for slaughter.

10 ‘‘SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS.

11 ‘‘In this title:

12 ‘‘(1) COMMERCE.—The term ‘commerce’ means

13 trade, traffic, transportation, or other commerce—

14 ‘‘(A) between any State, territory, or pos15 session of the United States, or the District of

16 Columbia, and any place outside thereof;

17 ‘‘(B) between points within the same

18 State, territory, or possession of the United

19 States, or the District of Columbia, but through

20 any place outside thereof; or

21 ‘‘(C) within any territory or possession of

22 the United States or the District of Columbia.

23 ‘‘(2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘Department’

24 means the United States Department of Agriculture.
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1 ‘‘(3) EQUINE.—The term ‘equine’ includes any

2 member of the Equidae family.

3 ‘‘(4) FOAL.—The term ‘foal’ means a horse

4 that is not more than 6 months of age.

5 ‘‘(5) HORSE.—The term ‘horse’ includes any

6 member of the Equidae family.

7 ‘‘(6) HORSE FOR SLAUGHTER.—The term

8 ‘horse for slaughter’ means any horse that is trans9 ported, or intended to be transported, to a slaughter

10 facility or intermediate handler from a sale, auction,

11 or intermediate handler by a person engaged in the

12 business of transporting horses for slaughter.

13 ‘‘(7) INTERMEDIATE HANDLER.—The term ‘in14 termediate handler’ means any person engaged in

15 the business of receiving custody of horses for

16 slaughter in connection with the transport of the

17 horses to a slaughter facility, including a stockyard,

18 feedlot, or assembly point.

19 ‘‘(8) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ includes any

20 individual, partnership, firm, company, corporation,

21 or association.

22 ‘‘(9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means

23 the Secretary of Agriculture.

24 ‘‘(10) VEHICLE.—The term ‘vehicle’ means any

25 machine, truck, tractor, trailer, or semitrailer, or
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1 any combination thereof, propelled or drawn by me2 chanical power and used on a highway in the com3 mercial transportation of horses for slaughter.

4 ‘‘(11) STALLION.—The term ‘stallion’ means

5 any uncastrated male horse that is 1 year of age or

6 older.

7 ‘‘SEC. 203. STANDARDS FOR HUMANE COMMERCIAL TRANS8 PORTATION OF HORSES FOR SLAUGHTER.

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after

10 the date of enactment of this title, the Secretary shall

11 issue, by regulation, standards for the humane commercial

12 transportation of horses for slaughter.

13 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—No person shall transport in

14 commerce, to a slaughter facility or intermediate handler,

15 a horse for slaughter except in accordance with the stand16 ards and this title.

17 ‘‘(c) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—The standards

18 shall include minimum requirements for the humane han19 dling, care, treatment, and equipment necessary to ensure

20 the safe and humane transportation of horses for slaugh21 ter. The standards shall require, at a minimum, that—

22 ‘‘(1) no horse for slaughter shall be transported

23 for more than 24 hours without being unloaded from

24 the vehicle and allowed to rest for at least 8 con-
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1 secutive hours and given access to adequate quan2 tities of wholesome food and potable water;

3 ‘‘(2) a vehicle shall provide adequate headroom

4 for a horse for slaughter with a minimum of at least

5 6 feet, 6 inches of headroom from the roof and

6 beams or other structural members overhead to floor

7 underfoot, except that a vehicle transporting 6

8 horses or less shall provide a minimum of at least

9 6 feet of headroom from the roof and beams or other

10 structural members overhead to floor underfoot if

11 none of the horses are over 16 hands;

12 ‘‘(3) the interior of a vehicle shall—

13 ‘‘(A) be free of protrusions, sharp edges,

14 and harmful objects;

15 ‘‘(B) have ramps and floors that are ade16 quately covered with a nonskid nonmetallic sur17 face; and

18 ‘‘(C) be maintained in a sanitary condition;

19 ‘‘(4) a vehicle shall—

20 ‘‘(A) provide adequate ventilation and shel21 ter from extremes of weather and temperature

22 for all equine;

23 ‘‘(B) be of appropriate size, height, and in24 terior design for the number of equine being

25 carried to prevent overcrowding; and
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1 ‘‘(C) be equipped with doors and ramps of

2 sufficient size and location to provide for safe

3 loading and unloading, including unloading dur4 ing emergencies;

5 ‘‘(5)(A) horses shall be positioned in the vehicle

6 by size; and

7 ‘‘(B) stallions shall be segregated from other

8 horses;

9 ‘‘(6)(A) all horses for slaughter must be fit to

10 travel as determined by an accredited large animal

11 veterinarian, who shall prepare a certificate of in12 spection, prior to loading for transport, that—

13 ‘‘(i) states that the horses were inspected

14 and satisfied the requirements of subparagraph

15 (B);

16 ‘‘(ii) includes a clear description of each

17 horse; and

18 ‘‘(iii) is valid for 7 days;

19 ‘‘(B) no horse shall be transported to slaughter

20 if the horse is found to be—

21 ‘‘(i) suffering from a broken or dislocated

22 limb;

23 ‘‘(ii) unable to bear weight on all 4 limbs;

24 ‘‘(iii) blind in both eyes; or
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1 ‘‘(iv) obviously suffering from severe ill2 ness, injury, lameness, or physical debilitation

3 that would make the horse unable to withstand

4 the stress of transportation;

5 ‘‘(C) no foal may be transported for slaughter;

6 ‘‘(D) no mare in foal that exhibits signs of im7 pending partition may be transported for slaughter;

8 and

9 ‘‘(E) no horse for slaughter shall be accepted by

10 a slaughter facility unless the horse is accompanied

11 by a certificate of inspection issued by an accredited

12 large animal veterinarian, not more than 7 days be13 fore the delivery, stating that the veterinarian in14 spected the horse on a specified date.

15 ‘‘SEC. 204. RECORDS.

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A person engaged in the busi17 ness of transporting horses for slaughter shall establish

18 and maintain such records, make such reports, and pro19 vide such information as the Secretary may, by regulation,

20 require for the purposes of carrying out, or determining

21 compliance with, this subtitle.

22 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—The records shall

23 include, at a minimum—

24 ‘‘(1) the veterinary certificate of inspection;
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1 ‘‘(2) the names and addresses of current owners

2 and consignors, if applicable, of the horses at the

3 time of sale or consignment to slaughter; and

4 ‘‘(3) the bill of sale or other documentation of

5 sale for each horse.

6 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY.—The records shall—

7 ‘‘(1) accompany the horses during transport to

8 slaughter;

9 ‘‘(2) be retained by any person engaged in the

10 business of transporting horses for slaughter for a

11 reasonable period of time, as determined by the Sec12 retary; and

13 ‘‘(3) on request of an officer or employee of the

14 Department, be made available at all reasonable

15 times for inspection and copying by the officer or

16 employee.

17 ‘‘SEC. 205. AGENTS.

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this title, the

19 act, omission, or failure of an individual acting for or em20 ployed by a person engaged in the business of transporting

21 horses for slaughter, within the scope of the employment

22 or office of the individual, shall be considered the act,

23 omission, or failure of the person engaging in the commer24 cial transportation of horses for slaughter as well as of

25 the individual.
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1 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANCE.—If a horse suffers a substantial

2 injury or illness while being transported for slaughter on

3 a vehicle, the driver of the vehicle should seek prompt as4 sistance from a large animal veterinarian.

5 ‘‘SEC. 206. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.

6 ‘‘Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment

7 of this title, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent

8 practicable, establish cooperative agreements and enter

9 into memoranda of agreement with appropriate Federal

10 and State agencies or political subdivisions of the agencies,

11 including State departments of agriculture, State law en12 forcement agencies, and foreign governments, to carry out

13 and enforce this title.

14 ‘‘SEC. 207. INVESTIGATIONS AND INSPECTIONS.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make such

16 investigations or inspections as the Secretary considers

17 necessary—

18 ‘‘(1) to enforce this title (including any regula19 tion issued under this title); and

20 ‘‘(2) pursuant to information regarding alleged

21 violations of this title provided to the Secretary by

22 a State official or any other person.

23 ‘‘(b) ACCESS.—For the purposes of conducting an in24 vestigation or inspection under subsection (a), the Sec25 retary shall, at all reasonable times, have access to—
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1 ‘‘(1) the place of business of any person en2 gaged in the business of transporting horses for

3 slaughter;

4 ‘‘(2) the facilities and vehicles used to transport

5 the horses; and

6 ‘‘(3) records required to be maintained under

7 section 204.

8 ‘‘(c) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.—An investigation or

9 inspection shall include, at a minimum, an inspection by

10 an employee of the Department of all horses and vehicles

11 carrying horses, on the arrival of the horses and vehicles

12 at the slaughter facility.

13 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE TO OR DESTRUCTION OF

14 HORSES.—The Secretary shall issue such regulations as

15 the Secretary considers necessary to permit employees or

16 agents of the Department to—

17 ‘‘(1) provide assistance to any horse that is cov18 ered by this title (including any regulation issued

19 under this title); or

20 ‘‘(2) destroy, in a humane manner, any such

21 horse found to be suffering.

22 ‘‘SEC. 208. INTERFERENCE WITH ENFORCEMENT.

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), a per24 son who forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, in25 timidates, or interferes with any person while engaged in
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1 or on account of the performance of an official duty of

2 the person under this title shall be fined not more than

3 $5,000 or imprisoned not more than 3 years, or both.

4 ‘‘(b) WEAPONS.—If the person uses a deadly or dan5 gerous weapon in connection with an action described in

6 subsection (a), the person shall be fined not more than

7 $10,000 or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.

8 ‘‘SEC. 209. JURISDICTION OF COURTS.

9 ‘‘Except as provided in section 210(a)(5), a district

10 court of the United States in any appropriate judicial dis11 trict under section 1391 of title 28, United States Court,

12 shall have jurisdiction to specifically enforce this title, to

13 prevent and restrain a violation of this title, and to other14 wise enforce this title.

15 ‘‘SEC. 210. CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

16 ‘‘(a) CIVIL PENALTIES.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person who violates this

18 title (including a regulation or standard issued

19 under this title) shall be assessed a civil penalty by

20 the Secretary of not more than $2,000 for each vio21 lation.

22 ‘‘(2) SEPARATE OFFENSES.—Each horse trans23 ported in violation of this title shall constitute a sep24 arate offense. Each violation and each day during
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1 which a violation continues shall constitute a sepa2 rate offense.

3 ‘‘(3) HEARINGS.—No penalty shall be assessed

4 under this subsection unless the person who is al5 leged to have violated this title is given notice and

6 opportunity for a hearing with respect to an alleged

7 violation.

8 ‘‘(4) FINAL ORDER.—An order of the Secretary

9 assessing a penalty under this subsection shall be

10 final and conclusive unless the aggrieved person files

11 an appeal from the order pursuant to paragraph (5).

12 ‘‘(5) APPEALS.—Not later than 30 days after

13 entry of a final order of the Secretary issued pursu14 ant to this subsection, a person aggrieved by the

15 order may seek review of the order in the appro16 priate United States Court of Appeals. The Court

17 shall have exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside,

18 suspend (in whole or in part), or to determine the

19 validity of the order.

20 ‘‘(6) NONPAYMENT OF PENALTY.—On a failure

21 to pay the penalty assessed by a final order under

22 this section, the Secretary shall request the Attorney

23 General to institute a civil action in a district court

24 of the United States or other United States court

25 for any district in which the person is found, resides,
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1 or transacts business, to collect the penalty. The

2 court shall have jurisdiction to hear and decide the

3 action.

4 ‘‘(b) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—

5 ‘‘(1) FIRST OFFENSE.—Subject to paragraph

6 (2), a person who knowingly violates this title (or a

7 regulation or standard issued under this title) shall,

8 on conviction of the violation, be subject to imprison9 ment for not more than 1 year or a fine of not more

10 than $2,000, or both.

11 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT OFFENSES.—On conviction

12 of a second or subsequent offense described in para13 graph (1), a person shall be subject to imprisonment

14 for not more than 3 years or to a fine of not more

15 than $5,000, or both.

16 ‘‘SEC. 211. PAYMENTS FOR TEMPORARY OR MEDICAL AS17 SISTANCE FOR HORSES DUE TO VIOLATIONS.

18 ‘‘From sums received as penalties, fines, or forfeit19 ures of property for any violation of this title (including

20 a regulation issued under this title), the Secretary shall

21 pay the reasonable and necessary costs incurred by any

22 person in providing temporary care or medical assistance

23 for any horse that needs the care or assistance due to a

24 violation of this title.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 212. RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAW.

2 ‘‘Nothing in this title prevents a State from enacting

3 or enforcing any law (including a regulation) that is not

4 inconsistent with this title or that is more restrictive than

5 this title.

6 ‘‘SEC. 213. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated for each fis8 cal year such sums as are necessary to carry out this

9 title.’’.

10 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

11 (a) The first section of Public Law 85–765 (7 U.S.C.

12 1901) is amended by striking ‘‘That the Congress’’ and

13 inserting the following:

14 ‘‘SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE.

15 ‘‘This Act may be cited as the ‘Federal Humane

16 Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act’.

17 ‘‘TITLE I—HUMANE METHODS OF

18 LIVESTOCK SLAUGHTER

19 ‘‘SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY.

20 ‘‘Congress’’.

21 (b) Section 2 of the Federal Humane Methods of

22 Livestock Slaughter Act (7 U.S.C. 1902) is amended by

23 striking ‘‘SEC. 2. No’’ and inserting the following:

24 ‘‘SEC. 102. HUMANE METHODS.

25 ‘‘No’’.
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1 (c) Section 4 of the Act (7 U.S.C. 1904) is amended

2 by striking ‘‘SEC. 4. In’’ and inserting the following:

3 ‘‘SEC. 103. METHODS RESEARCH.

4 ‘‘In’’.

5 (d) Section 6 of the Act (7 U.S.C. 1906) is amended

6 by striking ‘‘SEC. 6. Nothing’’ and inserting the following:

7 ‘‘SEC. 104. EXEMPTION OF RITUAL SLAUGHTER.

8 ‘‘Nothing’’.

9 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act and the amendments

11 made by this Act shall become effective 180 days after

12 the date of enactment of this Act.

13 (b) REGULATIONS.—As soon as practicable, but not

14 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this

15 Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall issue such regula16 tions as the Secretary determines are necessary to imple17 ment this Act and the amendments made by this Act.

18 (c) COMPLIANCE.—A person shall be required to

19 comply with—

20 (1) sections 203 and 204 of the Federal Hu21 mane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act (as added

22 by section 2) beginning on the date that is 180 days

23 after the date of enactment of this Act; and
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1 (2) other sections of title II of the Act begin2 ning on the date that is 90 days after the Secretary

3 issues final regulations under subsection (b).

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