II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 394 

To amend the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act of 1958 to 

ensure the humane slaughter of nonambulatory livestock, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25, 2007 

Mr. AKAKA (for himself, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. KERRY, Mrs. BOXER, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act 

of 1958 to ensure the humane slaughter of nonambulatory livestock, 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 ‘‘Downed Animal and 

5 Food Safety Protection Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDING AND DECLARATION OF POLICY. 

2 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that the humane 

3 euthanization of nonambulatory livestock in interstate and 

4 foreign commerce— 

5 (1) prevents needless suffering; 

6 (2) results in safer and better working condi7 tions for persons handling livestock; 

8 (3) brings about improvement of products and 

9 reduces the likelihood of the spread of diseases that 

10 have a great and deleterious impact on interstate 

11 and foreign commerce in livestock; and 

12 (4) produces other benefits for producers, proc13 essors, and consumers that tend to expedite an or14 derly flow of livestock and livestock products in 

15 interstate foreign commerce. 

16 (b) DECLARATION OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

17 United States that all nonambulatory livestock in inter18 state and foreign commerce shall be immediately and hu19 manely euthanized when such livestock become non20 ambulatory. 

21 SEC. 3. UNLAWFUL SLAUGHTER PRACTICES INVOLVING 

22 NONAMBULATORY LIVESTOCK. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Public Law 85–765 (commonly 

24 known as the ‘‘Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 

25 1958’’) (7 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

26 after section 2 (7 U.S.C. 1902) the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 3. NONAMBULATORY LIVESTOCK. 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 ‘‘(1) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered en4 tity’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) a stockyard; 

6 ‘‘(B) a market agency; 

7 ‘‘(C) a dealer; 

8 ‘‘(D) a packer; 

9 ‘‘(E) a slaughter facility; or 

10 ‘‘(F) an establishment. 

11 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The term ‘establish12 ment’ means an establishment that is covered by the 

13 Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et 

14 seq.). 

15 ‘‘(3) HUMANELY EUTHANIZE.—The term ‘hu16 manely euthanize’ means to immediately render an 

17 animal unconscious by mechanical, chemical, or 

18 other means, with this state remaining until the 

19 death of the animal. 

20 ‘‘(4) NONAMBULATORY LIVESTOCK.—The term 

21 ‘nonambulatory livestock’ means any cattle, sheep, 

22 swine, goats, or horses, mules, or other equines, that 

23 will not stand and walk unassisted. 

24 ‘‘(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

25 the Secretary of Agriculture. 


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1 ‘‘(b) HUMANE TREATMENT, HANDLING, AND DIS2 POSITION.—The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to 

3 provide for the humane treatment, handling, and disposi4 tion of all nonambulatory livestock by covered entities, in5 cluding a requirement that nonambulatory livestock be hu6 manely euthanized. 

7 ‘‘(c) HUMANE EUTHANASIA.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

9 when an animal becomes nonambulatory, a covered 

10 entity shall immediately humanely euthanize the 

11 nonambulatory livestock. 

12 ‘‘(2) DISEASE TESTING.—Paragraph (1) shall 

13 not limit the ability of the Secretary to test non14 ambulatory livestock for a disease, such as Bovine 

15 Spongiform Encephalopathy. 

16 ‘‘(d) MOVEMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered entity shall not 

18 move nonambulatory livestock while the non19 ambulatory livestock are conscious. 

20 ‘‘(2) UNCONSCIOUSNESS.—In the case of any 

21 nonambulatory livestock that are moved, the covered 

22 entity shall ensure that the nonambulatory livestock 

23 remain unconscious until death. 

24 ‘‘(e) INSPECTIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for an 

2 inspector at an establishment to pass through in3 spection any nonambulatory livestock or carcass (in4 cluding parts of a carcass) of nonambulatory live5 stock. 

6 ‘‘(2) LABELING.—An inspector or other em7 ployee of an establishment shall label, mark, stamp, 

8 or tag as ‘inspected and condemned’ any material 

9 described in paragraph (1).’’. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para12 graph (2), the amendment made by subsection (a) 

13 takes effect on the date that is 1 year after the date 

14 of enactment of this Act. 

15 (2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

17 Agriculture shall promulgate final regulations to im18 plement the amendment made by subsection (a). 

Æ 


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