An Act To Protect Maine Communities by Prohibiting Horse Slaughter for Human Consumption and the Transport of Horses for Slaughter
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1286
Committee Amendment CA_A_H376 (House)
Amends: 22 MRSA §2511

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "h, to H.P. 913, L.D. 1286, Bill, "An Act To 
Protect Maine Communities by Prohibiting Horse Slaughter for Human Consumption and 
the Transport of Horses for Slaughter" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act To Protect Maine Communities by Prohibiting Horse Slaughter for Sale or 
Barter for Human Consumption and by Prohibiting the Transport of Horses for 
Slaughter' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
summary and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 17 MRS A §3967 is enacted to read: 
§3967. Equine slaughter for sale or barter prohibited for human consumption 
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A. 
"Horse" includes all members of the genus Equus, including horses, ponies, 
donkeys, mules, asses and burros. 
B. "Horseflesh" or "horsemeat" means the flesh of a dead horse and includes the 
animal's viscera, skin, hair, hide, hooves and bones. 
C. "Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, trust, association or other 
legal entity. 
2. Prohibition against horse slaughter for sale or barter. A person may not 
slaughter a horse to sell, barter or offer for sale or barter, at wholesale or retail, for human 
consumption. 
3. Prohibition against transport of a horse for slaughter. A person may not 
knowingly transport a horse for the purpose of slaughter for human consumption and may 
not knowingly transport horsemeat, or any product made in whole or in part from 
horsemeat, for human consumption. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "An to H.P. 913, L.D. 1286 
4. Prohibition against construction or operation of horse slaughtering facilities. 
A person may not knowingly construct a facility if that facility will be used, or operate a 
facility if that facility is used, to slaughter horses for human consumption. 
5. Penalty. A person who violates this section commits a civil violation for which a 
fine of not less than $500 and not more than $1,000 may be adjudged for each horse 
slaughtered for sale or for barter or transported for the purpose of slaughter for human 
consumption or for each horse carcass or horsemeat product transported, sold or bartered 
or offered for sale or barter. 
Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §2511, sub-§25, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 771, §1, is amended 
to read: 
25. Livestock. "Livestock" means cattle, domesticated deer, sheep, swine, goats, 
domestic rabbits, herses, ffRdes, ether equines or other designated animals, whether live 
or dead. 
Sec. 3. 22 MRS A §2511, sub-§27, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 771, §1, is amended 
to read: 
27. Meat. "Meat" means the part of the muscle of cattle, domesticated deer, sheep, 
swine, goats, herses, mules, ether equines or other designated animals that is skeletal or 
that is found in the tongue, diaphragm, heart or esophagus, with or without the 
accompanying and overlying fat, and the portions of bone, skin, sinew, nerve and blood 
vessels that normally accompany the muscle tissue but does not include the muscle found 
in the lips, snout or ears. 
Sec. 4. 22 MRS A §2523, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 777, §1, is amended 
to read: 
3. Plainly identified. In intrastate commerce, a person may not sell, transport, offer 
for sale or transportation or receive for transportation any carcass of horses, mules or 
other equines or parts of these carcasses, or the meat or meat food products of these 
carcasses, unless they are plainly and censpicueusly marked er labeled er etherwise 
identified as required by rules established by the celIH'IHssiener te She'll the kinds ef 
animals frem which they vlere derived.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment is the minority report. It amends the title and strikes and replaces 
the bill. The amendment prohibits the slaughter of horses for sale or barter for human 
consumption. It also prohibitS the sale or barter of any product made in whole or in part 
from the flesh of a horse if a person knows or should reasonably have known that the 
flesh or the product made of the flesh was from a horse. The amendment also bans the 
transport of horses for the purposes of slaughter for human consumption and bans the 
construction or operation of horse slaughtering facilities. Violations of these prohibitions 
are civil violations for which a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $1,000 may 
be adjudged for each violation. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 06/01113 
~ac 
LD 1286 
LR 984(02) 
An Act To Protect Maine Communities by Prohibiting Horse Slaughter for Human Consumption and 
the Transport of Horses for Slaughter 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment t1'{H~3 7& ') 
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Potential current biennium cost increase - General Fund 
Minor revenue increase - General Fund 
Correctional and Judicial Impact Statements 
Increases the number of civil violations. 
The collection of additional fines may also increase General Fund revenue by minor amounts. 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
The Department of the Attorney General may require additional General Fund appropriations for litigation costs. The 
amounts cannot be predicted at this time. 
LR0984(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1