The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1924-06-26
MEAT INSPECTION
How the Government lnspects AMI
!. mails Before sIauahter-ReIation

now bnS government tnSPSCts Ani-
mails Before sIaughter-Relation
to the Shipper and Producer.
All farmers and others who raise or
handle cattle. sheep, hogs, or goats
which are marketed for food purposes
should know something of the gener-
al rules under which the department
conducts the inspection Of animals to
be slaughtered
When such animals are forwarded
to. public stockyards or to establish
ments where federal meat inspection
is maintained they are inspected
alive. This inspection is known as the
ante norton inspection and is done
In the stockyards or in the pens of
the establishment. When conducted
in the public stockyards the ante NOR
TEN inspection is usually made at the
scales when the animals are weighed.
The chief requirements for the dispos-
al of animals upon this inspection are
as follows: Those animals which do
not plainly show, but are suspected of
being affected with, any disease or
condition which may cause condem-
nation in whole or In part at the time
of slaughter, are marked with a seri-
ally-numbered metal tag which bears
the legend III. S. Suspect" All ami
mails which are thus marked as sus-
poets are held apart and slaughtered
separately from other animals, the on
ly exception to this rule being those
held for advanced pregnancy or on ac-
count of having recently given birth
to young, and which have not been ex-
posed to any infectious or contagious
disease. Such animals. together with
their young, may be released for
breeding or dairy purposes, and when
! so released they must be promptly re-
moved from the stockyards or premi-
ses of the establishment where in
spected.
Some animals are condemned out
right upon the ante-mortem inspec-
ton. For instance, all hogs which
plainly show that they are affected
with either hog cholera or swine
plague are marked ~. S. Condemn
ed" Further, if hog is one of a lot
in which there are symptoms of hog
cholera or swine plague and the AMI
NAL has temperature of log degrees
F. or higher, it is condemned. All an
finals thus marked are destroyed.
They can not be taken into the estab
lishment to be slaughtered or dress
ed, but must be disposed of in tanks
so as to prevent their use for food
purposes. In case of doubt as to the
cause of the high temperature the
animal may be held under the inspec-
tors supervision for further examina
ton and taking of temperature. I'M
mature animals offered for ante-mor-
tum inspection at any of the places
specified in the regulation are requir-
ed to be condemned outright; like
wise all animals showing symptoms
OF rabies, tetanus, milk fever, or rail-
road sickness.
Besides this ante-mortum inspection
the carcasses are thoroughly inspect
ed at the time of and after slaughter,
and the meat and products are also
inspected in the various stages and
processes of preparation.
The losses caused through the con-
demnation of animals which are unfit
for food affects directly or indirectly
the price the producer receives for
his live stock. The purchasers Of an
inlals for slaughter not infrequently
trace diseased shipments back to
their origin where disease is harbored
and thereafter decline to take animals
from infected farms and localities ey-
cept under an arrangement which viii
insure them against loss. 1t therefore
behooves the producer to use every
practicable means to keep his herds
and flocks free from disease and to re-
frain from forwarding diseased or
Suspicious animals to market.