The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service recently published a new directive titled “Humane Handling and Slaughter of Livestock-6900.2 Revision 3.”
The notice clarifies the definition of egregious inhumane treatment stating, “an egregious situation is an act or condition that results in severe harm to animals.” Some of them are very clear and are consistent with the guidelines endorsed by the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) and include examples such as: driving animals off semi-trailers without unloading facilities and allowing them to fall to the ground; excessive beating or prodding animals; dragging conscious animals; and making cuts or skinning conscious animals.
Additional guidelines are clarified for inhumane treatment during stunning and include: stunning animals and then allowing them to return to consciousness; failing to immediately (or promptly) render an animal unconscious after a failed initial attempt; and any one of five establishment failures to stun an animal after multiple attempts.
