Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 250 - Department of Environmental Management › Chapter 40 - Agriculture and Resource Marketing › Subchapter 05 - Animal Health › Part 5 - Rules and Regulations Governing Livestock Welfare › Section 250-RICR-40-05-5.6 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. Wherever used in these Rules and
				  Regulations the following terms should be construed as follows:
1. "Ambulatory disabled" means livestock
				  capable of walking but with a physical impairment that severely limits or
				  threatens their ability to walk.
2.
				  "Body condition" means the range from emaciated to obese and is useful to
				  assess the adequacy of the nutritional program and health status of an animal
				  by evaluating the animal's body fat and/or muscle mass in relationship to its
				  skeletal dimension and its stage of production.
3. "Breeding/gestation stall" means any
				  configuration in which a mature porcine animal is continuously housed, that
				  does not allow it to turn around and freely enter or exit. This term does not
				  apply to farrowing crates or stalls.
4. "Breeders" means livestock raised to
				  perpetuate progeny.
5. "Broilers"
				  means chickens raised for meat.
6.
				  "Cage-free housing system" means a housing system where the egg laying hens are
				  not exclusively housed in a cage. This includes, but is not limited to
				  free-range pasture, aviaries, fixed houses, portable houses, pasture pens, and
				  integrated systems.
7. "Cage
				  housing systems" means one of the following egg laying hen housing systems:
a. "Conventional battery cage system" means a
				  housing system in an enclosed or open-sided building where the layer is
				  maintained in a cage, and which meets the conditions set forth in §
												5.8(F)(3)(f)
				  of this Part; and,
b. "Enriched
				  cage system" means a housing system that provides features in addition to feed
				  and water, such as areas for nesting, scratching, perching and/or dust
				  bathing.
8.
				  "Conditioning" means the trimming of the beak or the partial/complete removal
				  of the snood, comb, toenail, and dewclaw for the purpose of prevention of
				  injury during the growth or maturity of poultry.
9. "Conditioning fighting teeth" means the
				  partial/complete removal of the fighting teeth of camelids above the gum line
				  for the purpose of preventing injury.
10. "Distress" means the condition that
				  occurs when livestock are injured, sick, or in pain.
11. "Equine" means horses, ponies, mules and
				  donkeys.
12. "Euthanasia" means the
				  causing of humane death, through the rapid loss of consciousness followed by
				  cardiac and respiratory arrest and the ultimate loss of brain
				  function.
13. "Existing facility"
				  means all buildings or structures that currently house livestock utilizing any
				  housing system as of the effective date of the standards.
14. "Extralabel drug use" or "ELDU" means the
				  use of an approved drug in a manner that is not in accordance with the approved
				  labeling, yet meets the conditions set forth by the Animal Medicinal Drug Use
				  Clarification Act of 1994 (AMDUCA) and the United States Food and Drug
				  Administration (FDA) and a Valid-Veterinary-Client-Patient-Relationship (VCPR)
				  is required.
15. "Farrowing crate"
				  or "farrowing stall" means an enclosure in which a pregnant porcine animal is
				  placed in the peri-parturient period until the weaning of the
				  piglets.
16. "Fatigued swine" means
				  swine that have temporarily lost the ability to walk but have a reasonable
				  expectation to recover full locomotion with rest.
17. "Fighting teeth" means up to three teeth
				  on either side of the mouth (six teeth maximum) which include only the upper
				  incisor (most forward upper tooth) and the upper and lower canine
				  teeth.
18. "Housing" means the
				  physical area or location which is occupied by livestock.
19. "Humane" means the care and handling of
				  livestock that seeks to minimize distress through utilization of the standards
				  established by this document.
20.
				  "Layers" or "egg laying hens" means female chickens that have reached sexual
				  maturity as demonstrated by egg production.
21. "Livestock" means any bovine, equine,
				  caprine, ovine, camelid, swine, poultry, or other animal that is raised for
				  production of food or fiber, or is used for work, commerce, or exhibition;
				  excluding canines, felines, reptiles, amphibians, fish, rodents, and rabbits,
				  except those rabbits that are raised for food or fiber.
22. "Management" means practices and
				  procedures performed on livestock for the purpose of achieving production
				  goals. Such practices and procedures include, but are not limited to breeding,
				  weaning, sorting, culling, relocating, assessing, administration of vaccines,
				  castration, dehorning, and identification.
23. "Non-ambulatory disabled" means livestock
				  that cannot rise from a recumbent position or that cannot walk.
24. "Pain" means an unpleasant physical
				  sensation occurring in varying degrees of severity as consequence of injury,
				  disease or from a medical or management procedure.
25. "Pain management" means the use of
				  medications by or under the direction of a Rhode Island licensed veterinarian
				  for the mitigation of pain during and following any management procedure that
				  results in pain.
26. "Poultry
				  flock" means a grouping of more than one poultry animal, which may be raised
				  for egg production, meat, and/or breeders.
27. "Poultry" means turkeys, chickens, ducks,
				  geese, or other fowl, both male and female, including layers, broilers and
				  turkeys.
28. "Pullet" means young
				  female chickens prior to sexual maturity.
29. "Quality assurance" means steps taken by
				  the responsible party to ensure safe, wholesome and high quality
				  products.
30. "Responsible party"
				  means a person of legal age who is the owner of the livestock and/or a person
				  who has current responsibility or custody of the livestock.
31. "Restraint" means the use of physical or
				  chemical means that temporarily render an animal unable to freely move, and
				  that are used for the purpose of capture or as an aid in the performance of
				  acceptable management, husbandry, or veterinary procedures.
32. "Slaughter" means the killing of animals
				  for the purpose of consuming the animal as food or animal feed. Slaughter is
				  distinctly different from euthanasia. Slaughter must be conducted in compliance
				  with R.I. Gen. Laws §
											4-17-1
et seq
.
				  entitled Humane Slaughter of Livestock, and all applicable federal
				  regulations.
33. "Veal" means a
				  young bovine animal sold for slaughter at or under 750 pounds, and raised for
				  the purpose of veal meat production including:
a. "Special fed veal" means calves that are
				  fed a milk-based liquid diet throughout the feeding period;
b. "Grain fed veal" means calves that are
				  raised on a feed program beginning with a milk-based liquid diet and may
				  include hay, pasture or other processed feeds; and,
c. "Bob veal" means calves that are fed a
				  milk-based liquid diet and generally marketed at less than three weeks old and
				  weighing less than 150 pounds.
34. "Veterinarian/client/patient
				  relationship" means a relationship where all of the following conditions have
				  been met:
a. The veterinarian has assumed the
				  responsibility for making medical judgments regarding the health of the animal
				  or animals and the need for medical treatment, and the client has agreed to
				  follow the instructions of the veterinarian.
b. The veterinarian has sufficient knowledge
				  of the animal or animals to initiate at least a general or preliminary (e.g.
				  tentative) diagnosis of the medical condition of the animal or animals. This
				  means that the veterinarian has recently seen and is personally acquainted with
				  the keeping and care of the animal or animals, and/or by medically appropriate
				  and timely visits to the premises where the animal or animals are
				  kept.
c. The veterinarian is
				  readily available for follow-up in cases of adverse reactions or failure of the
				  regimen of therapy.