Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Regulation Watch
  • Published:

USDA Encourages Humane Slaughter of Animals

Lab Animal volume 33, pages 14–15 (2004)Cite this article

On 9 September, the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) published a reminder1 to livestock establishments of their requirement to comply with the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA)2. The US General Accounting Office (now called the US General Accountability Office) recently released a review3 of the frequency and scope of humane handling and slaughter violations, actions to enforce compliance, and the adequacy of existing resources to enforce the Act. We address this issue because of the importance of proper euthanasia of laboratory animals, large and small.

In 1978, the Congress passed the HMSA to ensure that cattle, sheep, pigs, and other animals destined for human consumption are handled and slaughtered humanely. The FSIS, which is responsible for enforcing the act, issued this reminder because of the recent increase in congressional and public interest in the humane treatment of animals, and because the number of incidents of noncompliance FSIS documented in livestock establishments has increased over the last three years2.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. USDA. News Releases: FSIS issues notice on humane handling requirements. (9 September 2004). http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/ NR_090904_01/index.asp.

  2. 7 USCA §1901 et seq. Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.

  3. US GAO. Report to Congressional Requesters: Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (US General Accounting Office, Washington, DC, 2004). http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04247.pdf.

  4. 9 CFR Part 313–Humane slaughter of livestock.

  5. Federal Meat Inspection Act. Title 21–Food and Drugs, Chapter 12–Meat. http://www.fda.gov/opacom/laws/meat.htm.

  6. USDA FSIS. Notice. Humane handling and slaughter requirements and the merits of a systematic approach to meet such requirements. Federal Register 69(174), 54625–54627 (9 September 2004).

  7. NIH. Notice. Enhanced public access to National Institutes of Health (NIH) research information. Federal Register 69(180), 56074 (17 September 2004).

  8. NIH. Notice: enhanced public access to NIH research information. NOT-OD-04-064. (3 September 2004). http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/ not-od-04-064.html.

Download references

Authors
  1. Moshe Shalev MSc, VMD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Shalev, M. USDA Encourages Humane Slaughter of Animals. Lab Anim 33, 14–15 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban1104-14a

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/laban1104-14a

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing