[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 97 (Friday, May 17, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24916-24917]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-12376]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration


Livestock Care and Handling Guidelines; Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Agency is proposing to issue livestock care and handling 
guidelines to assist the industry in complying with the provisions of 
the Packers and Stockyards Act.

DATES: Comments are invited and should be submitted by July 16, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the Deputy Administrator, Packers 
and Stockyards Programs, Room 3039, South Building, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250-2800. Comments received may be 
inspected during normal business hours in the Office of the Deputy 
Administrator, Packers and Stockyards Programs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan Van Ackeren, Director, Livestock 
Marketing Division, (202) 720-6951.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Because of public concerns, the Agency 
initiated a program to review the services, facilities, and procedures 
for receiving and handling livestock at all stockyards. Since May 1991, 
the Agency has investigated over 1,400 stockyards to determine whether 
the livestock handling practices, services, and facilities at these 
stockyards were adequate to assure livestock are handled and cared for 
properly. While most stockyards have adequate facilities and exercise 
good animal care and handling practices, problems were found to exist 
at some stockyards. Some of the problems encountered at stockyards 
included: inadequate facilities; handling livestock in a manner that 
could cause bruising, injury, or unnecessary suffering, including 
excessive use of electric prods or other driving devices; overcrowding 
in pens; and not handling nonambulatory or injured livestock promptly. 
In addition, the Agency has received over 8,000 letters from animal 
welfare groups or from individuals not identified as producers or as 
members of any organization concerning the care and handling of 
``downed'' animals at stockyards.
    While the Agency already has a regulation (9 CFR 201.82) issued 
under the provisions of the Packers and Stockyards (P&S) Act that 
requires stockyard owners to exercise reasonable care and promptness in 
providing stockyard services to prevent shrinkage, injury, death, or 
other avoidable loss, that regulation does not adequately address the 
specific problems found in the Agency's review of the livestock 
handling practices, services, and facilities of stockyards. The Agency 
believes issuing specific livestock care and handling guidelines to the 
stockyard industry would be helpful in dealing with this issue.
    After considering the results of over 1,400 stockyard reviews, and 
the letters from concerned citizens, the Agency is proposing to publish 
guidelines for the care and handling of livestock at stockyards to 
assist the industry in complying with the provisions of the Packers and 
Stockyards Act. The guidelines would advise stockyard owners that they 
should maintain their facilities in a manner that avoids risk of 
injury, bruising, unnecessary suffering and stress. The stockyards 
would be advised to move, pen, and care for livestock in a manner that 
protects the quality and value of the animal while also providing for 
the animal's welfare. The guidelines would also advise stockyard owners 
of the minimum standards the Agency considers necessary for handling 
nonambulatory animals.
    Section 301(b) of the Packers and Stockyards Act (7 U.S.C. 201(b)) 
defines ``stockyard services'' as any ``services or facilities 
furnished at a stockyard in connection with the receiving, buying or 
selling on a commission basis or otherwise, marketing, feeding, 
watering, holding, delivery, shipment, weighing, or handling, in 
commerce, of livestock.'' Section 304 (7 U.S.C. 205) provides that: 
``All stockyard services furnished pursuant to reasonable request made 
to a stockyard owner or market agency at such stockyard shall be 
reasonable and nondiscriminatory and stockyard services, which are 
furnished, shall not be refused on any basis that is unreasonable or 
unjustly discriminatory * * *.''
    Section 307(a) (7 U.S.C. 208(a)) provides that: ``It shall be the 
duty of every stockyard owner and market agency to establish, observe, 
and enforce just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory regulations and 
practices in respect to the furnishing of stockyard services * * *.'' 
Section 312(a) (7 U.S.C. 213(a)) provides that: ``It shall be unlawful 
for any stockyard owner, market agency, or dealer to engage in or use 
any unfair, unjustly discriminatory, or deceptive practice or device in 
connection with determining whether persons should be authorized to 
operate at the stockyards, or with the receiving, marketing, buying, or 
selling on a commission basis or otherwise, feeding, watering, holding, 
delivery, shipment, weighing, or handling of livestock.''

The Guidelines

    Livestock in marketing channels should be handled and cared for in 
a manner that is consistent with the animals' well-being and that 
protects their quality and value. The Agency does not condone handling 
livestock in any manner that is inconsistent with good animal husbandry 
practices and

[[Page 24917]]

believes that the failure to provide proper care and handling increases 
the risk of unnecessary loss to the seller and unnecessary suffering 
for the animal. It is the Agency's view that stockyards should provide 
appropriate facilities and follow animal care and handling practices 
and procedures that minimize the risk of injury, death, or other 
avoidable loss and avoid unnecessary suffering. Failure to provide 
appropriate services as detailed in these guidelines could result in 
the Agency's initiating an enforcement action brought pursuant to 
Sections 304, 307, and 312 of the Packers and Stockyards Act.

1. Care and Handling of Livestock

    (a) Livestock at stockyards should be handled in a manner that 
protects the quality and value of the animal while also providing for 
the animal's welfare. Stockyard owners should establish and enforce 
practices and procedures that ensure the proper treatment of animals. 
Adequate instruction should be given to employees and proper notice 
given to truckers, market patrons, and other livestock handlers on the 
livestock care and handling practices to be followed at the facility. 
Abuse or mistreatment of animals should not be tolerated.
    (b) Livestock facilities, including loading and unloading ramps, 
gates, fences, scales, and equipment used to provide stockyard services 
should be reasonably clean and well-maintained. Any object in the 
facility or on equipment used around livestock that is likely to cause 
bruising or injury to livestock, such as protruding nails, sharp edges, 
extended bolts, gate hooks, latches and hinges, should be eliminated or 
modified. All floors should be constructed or maintained in such a 
manner that livestock can walk without slipping to prevent injuries 
caused by falling down.
    (c) Livestock of all species should be unloaded, yarded, moved 
through the facility, and reloaded in a manner to avoid bruising, 
injury, and unnecessary stress or suffering. When livestock are driven, 
sorted, or otherwise moved about a facility, such movement should be 
reasonably paced in a manner consistent with the type, temperament, and 
condition of the livestock being handled and stockyard conditions.
    (d) Livestock driving devices, such as electric prods, canes, 
whips, paddles or canvas straps, should be used prudently and only to 
the extent necessary to handle or move livestock. Generally, paddles 
and canvas straps are equally effective and less likely than other 
types of driving devices to cause bruising or unnecessary excitement 
and stress. Electric prods should be of a commercial type designed for 
use in moving livestock. All electric prodding devices should be used 
sparingly in order to avoid unnecessary stress and risk of injury to 
animals. Electric prods should never be applied to the rectum, vagina, 
eyes, ears or mouth areas.
    (e) Stockyards should provide adequate pen space for the number and 
type of animals handled. Uncastrated mature males should be penned 
individually if necessary to prevent fighting. Bulls should be penned 
separately from cows and heifers to prevent mounting which can cripple 
small or weak animals.
    (f) The Agency recognizes that transportation factors, types of 
livestock and animal nutrition requirements may make periods of 
withdrawal from feed and water desirable. These periods do not pose a 
threat to the quality and value of the animals if the animals are moved 
promptly to their destination. However, livestock held overnight at a 
stockyard, either before or after sale, should have access to feed and 
water within 24 hours of receipt at the stockyard.

2. Care and Handling of Nonambulatory Livestock.

    (a) Nonambulatory animals, also referred to as ``downed animals,'' 
are defined as those animals that are unable to stand or walk without 
assistance. The Agency believes prompt action is the key to preventing 
unnecessary suffering and protecting the economic value of 
nonambulatory animals, whether the action is providing veterinary care, 
transporting it to slaughter, euthanizing the animal, or taking some 
other effective action.
    (b) Stockyards should provide adequate facilities and equipment 
necessary to handle any livestock they accept on consignment. If a 
stockyard chooses to accept nonambulatory livestock or if an animal 
becomes nonambulatory while at the stockyard, the stockyard should 
provide the necessary equipment to handle the livestock humanely, 
efficiently, and promptly to avoid unnecessary suffering and preserve 
the quality and value of the animal.
    (c) Stockyard owners should establish pre-planned procedures that 
provide for assessing the condition of a nonambulatory animal and the 
options available for its care so prompt decisions can be made on its 
disposition and removal from the facility.
    (d) Nonambulatory animals require special equipment for their 
handling and movement within the stockyard facility to avoid the risk 
of further injury and unnecessary suffering. Such equipment may include 
a front-end loader, sled, belt or mat slide, specialized hoists or 
slings, or a combination of these devices. Special care should be taken 
when moving or loading nonambulatory animals onto a suitable 
conveyance. Nonambulatory animals should be gently rolled onto the 
conveyance, and an animal should not be shoved against a wall or fence 
to get it into a loader bucket.
    (e) Stockyards that cannot provide proper care in handling 
nonambulatory livestock or do not have the required special equipment 
should adopt a policy of refusing to accept such livestock. Further, if 
an animal becomes nonambulatory while at such facility, the stockyard 
should promptly euthanize the animal before moving it or secure the 
prompt services of a veterinarian or other third party with the 
necessary equipment to provide proper care and handling for the animal.
    (f) Dragging of a nonambulatory animal by its limbs is undesirable 
and should be avoided. In situations where an animal must be moved to 
accommodate a suitable conveyance, then padded belts should be attached 
to two noninjured limbs and the rope, cable, or chain attached to the 
belts. Animals should never be pulled by the neck. If these techniques 
for movement of the animal are not practical, then the animal should be 
promptly euthanized.
    (g) Separate pens should be provided for weak, injured, and 
nonambulatory livestock. Such pens should be located for ease of access 
by specialized equipment. Feed and water should also be provided for 
the nonambulatory livestock.
    (h) When an animal becomes nonambulatory, its condition should be 
promptly assessed, a decision made as to the proper care or disposition 
of the animal, and appropriate actions should be taken to protect its 
quality and value and to avoid unnecessary suffering. When it is 
determined that an animal should be euthanized, then the action should 
be taken promptly and humanely without awaiting the arrival of a 
rendering service.

(Authority: 7 U.S.C. 228(a); 7 CFR 2.22, 2.81)

    Done at Washington, D.C. this 13th day of May 1996.
James R. Baker,
Administrator Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration.
[FR Doc. 96-12376 Filed 5-16-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-EN-P