The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) received a petition this week from a coalition of animal welfare groups requesting a revision to the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) and the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) with the goal of “improving enforcement of the law.”
The HMSA, passed in 1958, was written in order to decrease the suffering of livestock during slaughter by requiring animals to be sedated and insensible to pain at time of slaughter. The FMIA was passed in 1906 to prevent adulterated and misbranded meat from being sold and provides oversight for sanitary conditions during slaughter and processing. Both acts cover livestock, which includes cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, and other equine species.
The 38-page petition was submitted on behalf of the Animal Legal Defense Fund; Compassion Over Killing; Farm Forward; Farm Sanctuary; Mercy for Animals; and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The petition states that after a review of reports by the USDA’s Officer of the Inspector General; the Government Accountability Office; undercover investigations carried out by the groups; and FSIS humane slaughter enforcement records, the coalition determined that the HMSA and FMIA are “enforced inconsistently and arbitrarily, or not at all.”
The petition requested the following actions:
- “Amend 9 C.F.R. § 500 to provide that FSIS ―will‖ issue at least a Noncompliance Record (NR) for all violations of the HMSA;
- Amend 9 C.F.R. § 313 to codify the definition of ―egregious‖ violations of the HMSA given by FSIS Directive 6900.2, rev. 2;
- Amend 9 C.F.R. § 500 to provide that FSIS ―will‖ issue a Notice of Suspension for all ―egregious‖ violations of the HMSA, as defined in 9 C.F.R. § 313;
- Amend 9 C.F.R. § 500 to require that all intentional cruelty, as well as especially egregious and reckless abuse, be referred for criminal prosecution;
- Amend 9 C.F.R. § 500 to provide FSIS with a timeline for withdrawal proceedings based on repetitive HMSA violations.”
The complete petition submitted to the USDA may be found here.
