[H. R. 6509, 85th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To require the use of humane methods in the slaughter of livestock and poultry in interstate or foreign commerce, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, as used in this Act

(a) The term "commerce" means commerce (1) among the several States or with foreign nations, (2) in any Territory of the United States or in the District of Columbia, (3) between any such Territory and another, (4) between any such Territory and any State or foreign nation, or (5) between the District of Columbia and any State, Territory, or foreign nation;

(b) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Agriculture;

(c) The term "person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, or association;

(d) The term "slaughterer" means any person regularly engaged in the business of (1) purchasing livestock or poultry in commerce for purposes of slaughter, or (2) slaughtering livestock or poultry for the sale in commerce of meat, meat products, poultry, or poultry products;

(e) The term "livestock" means cattle, sheep, swine, horses, and other animals susceptible of use for the preparation of meat or meat products;

(f) The term "poultry" means any fowl susceptible of use as human or animal food;

(g) The term "approved method" of slaughtering shall mean any of the following:

1. In the case of livestock, rendering such livestock insensible before bleeding or slaughtering, by mechanical, electrical, chemical, or other means determined by the Secretary to be rapid, effective, and humane;

2. In the case of poultry, instantaneous severing of the head from the body or, if poultry is otherwise cut or stuck, by first rendering such poultry insensible by mechanical, electrical, chemical, or other means determined by the Secretary to be rapid, effective, and humane;

3. Slaughtering in accordance with the requirements of any religious faith. SEC. 2. (a) Livestock and poultry shall be slaughtered by an approved method. (b) Livestock and poultry shall not be shackled, hoisted, cast, or otherwise brought into position for slaughter by any method that causes pain to the animals or fowl.

SEC. 3. Any person who by any act or omission violates any provision of section 2 shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.

SEC. 4. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed to appoint an Advisory and Research Committee consisting of not more than ten members, chosen from the following classifications: the Department of Agriculture, the national organizations of slaughterers, the trade-union movement engaged in slaughterhouse work, livestock growers, societies of the humane movement in the United States, and persons familiar with the requirements of ritualistic slaughtering. Committee members shall serve at the pleasure of the Secretary, who may replace a member, or fill a vacancy, at any time. The Committee shall advise the Secretary concerning questions arising in the administration of this Act, including in appropriate cases recommendations to the Secretary pursuant to section 6 hereunder. The Committee shall also conduct a continuing study of methods of slaughter of livestock and poultry with the objective of improving and bringing about acceptance of more efficient and more humane methods of slaughter, other than those approved methods designated in section 1 (g) above. The Department of Agriculture shall assist the Committee with such research personnel and facilities as the Department can make available. Any Committee member who is an officer or employee of the Department of Agriculture shall receive no additional compensation for service rendered under this Act. Other members shall receive such compensation, not in excess of $50 for each day of service, as the Secretary shall prescribe.

SEC. 5. The Secretary shall promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry this Act into effect.

SEC. 6. This Act shall take effect on the date two years after the date of enactment of this Act. Upon a showing of good cause and upon the recommendation of the Committee established under section 4, the Secretary may by order exempt any person from compliance with any provision of this Act for such a period of time as the Secretary shall determine to be reasonable, not to exceed one year.

Mr. POAGE. Mrs. Griffiths introduced the first of these humane slaughter bills, and has introduced legislation in the past.

And while we want to hear from all of the authors and to give them all an opportunity to be heard, before the hearings are over, and will do So, I wondered if it would not be appropriate to have Mrs. Griffiths make a statement at the present time before we start the general hearing and then hear possibly the Department of Agriculture witnesses, and then hear the general witnesses and possibly then we will hear those in opposition and then possibly hear the other congressional proponents at another date, because they presumably will be here.

I know a great many of you folks are here at considerable trouble and expense. So if there is not any objection I am going to ask that Mrs. Griffiths come forward.

Mrs. GRIFFITHS. Mr. Chairman, if it is the same to you I would prefer that the people who have come from some distance have an opportunity to give their testimony first, and I can wait until later.

Mr. POAGE. That will be perfectly permissible. In any event, we should have someone, I think, lay out the proposed legislation to the committee and then call the Department.

Mrs. GRIFFITHS. I will do that.

Mr. POAGE. All right.

STATEMENT OF HON. MARTHA W. GRIFFITHS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE 17TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN

Mrs. GRIFFITHS. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, in the first place I would like to thank you for holding this hearing. And I would like to thank Mr. Poage and the other members of the committee personally for the interest that they have taken throughout the past year in trying to establish humane methods of slaughter.

I would like to point out to the committee that the United States is one of the only nations in the free world that does not have humane slaughter. That humane slaughter in general was enacted in other nations some 25 and 30 years ago; but that this Nation has never seen fit to enact such legislation.

Of course, if slaughterhouses had glass walls we would have had humane slaughter a long time ago. But they do not have.

The bill which I have introduced, H. R. 176, sets up the requirements of humane slaughter. That is, that the animal be rendered insensitive to pain before the killing process starts.

In beef animals it would be possible to do so by a captive bolt pistol which is quite inexpensive.

In the slaughter of hogs and of lambs, other methods would have to be instituted.

The Hormel Meat Packing Co. has already instituted humane slaughter. They have found not only that they produce a better meat but it saves a great deal for them. It results in less bruising of the animal and less meat is wasted and less leather wasted. It results in less injury to the human beings employed in meatpacking houses. It is the most dangerous occupation there is. They have more injuries in meatpacking houses than any place else.

Of course, it does not all come from the slaughter process, but some part of it does.

I would like to say in the beginning that while I have great respect for the gentleman from South Carolina who introduced House bill 5820, that the difficulty with that bill is that it sets up a study commission. It delays the institution of humane slaughter.

I urge you to pass H. R. 176 in order that we may have humane slaughter yet in our lifetime and delay this matter no further. If you have any questions I will be glad to answer them.

Mr. POAGE. Thank you very much.

I think we better move on as fast as we can. We very much appreciate your being here.

I think possibly that we should now ask Dr. Clarkson and Dr. Miller to come forward.

We will be glad to hear from either one or both of you gentlemen. We have just a moment ago received a report from the Department. Neither counsel nor I have had an opportunity to find out whether it is favorable or unfavorable because we have just received it, but we will be glad to have you gentlemen present the views of the Depart

ment.

Dr. CLARKSON. Mr. Chairman, if we may we would like each to make a brief statement.

STATEMENT OF DR. M. R. CLARKSON, DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE; ACCOMPANIED BY DR. A. R. MILLER, DIRECTOR, MEAT INSPECTION DIVISION, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Dr. CLARKSON. My name is M. R. Clarkson. I am Deputy Administrator of the Agricultural Research Service.

We appreciate the opportunity you have given us to comment on House bills 176, 2880, 3029, 3049, 5671, 5820, and 6422, which are designed to promote the use of improved methods of humane handling fo livestock and poultry in interstate or foreign commerce. There is widespread interest in this legislation. It is important, therefore, that the Department's position be clear.

We emphatically favor humane slaughter by any method that is found to be practicable and workable. The Department recommends the enactment of H. R. 5820 which would provide an orderly approach to this objective and would, in addition, provide for a coordinated national effort to improve the humane handling and transport of livestock and poultry which involve repeated handling of these animals during the marketing process from farm to slaughter.

H. R. 5820 would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct, assist, and foster research, investigation, and experimentation to develop and encourage the adoption of improved methods of handling, transporting, and slaughtering of livestock and poultry.

The bill would authorize the Secretary to appoint an advisory committee composed of nine members who would consult and advise him in carrying out the proposed legislation.

The bill would provide for the Secretary to report to the Congress annually, commencing January 1, 1959, concerning actions taken suant to the legislation.

pur

The Department is opposed to the enactment of the other bills listed above. The enactment of mandatory Federal legislation backed with the threat of criminal prosecution for those operators engaged in interstate commerce is not a satisfactory way of handling a situation that requires so much careful study and development to bring together the factors of practicality and humane handling.

A practical approach should be taken to devise and to encourage and promote the use of improved methods for the humane handling, transporting, and slaughtering of livestock and poultry as is provided in H. R. 5820.

No one has yet devised a method of slaughter that does not involve some pain. Yet food animals must be slaughtered, and attention must be directed toward improvements in equipment and techniques, the adoption of more rapid and orderly methods of handling the animals just prior to slaughter, and of course the avoidance of abuse.

This orderly approach in our view represents a method that is preferable to the enforcement of mandatory Federal legislation.

Judgment of a procedure or of a device to determine whether it is in fact "humane" when slaughtering livestock or poultry is extremely difficult, since no one has developed the basic criteria for evaluating animal reactions to stimuli that might cause pain or fright.

Wide differences of opinion are usually expressed about the practicality as well as the humaneness of any new method proposed. Each such proposal must be carefully considered and finally tested in the plants to determine these issues.

Much fundamental knowledge is lacking upon which to base an opinion of the acceptability of one method over another from the standpoint of humaneness. Research is needed to develop information which may shed light on this aspect of the problem. H. R. 5820 would provide for this type of approach.

Research would be predicated on the assumption that the unconscious animal suffers no pain and that the end point with respect to pain would be insensibility.

Determination of what insensibility is and when it is reached is necessary. The effects of variations in time and procedure on the resultant meat must be appraised, and objective observations of the degree of excitement and pain in the subject animals must be made. Electroencephalography and electrocardiography observations should be made to establish objective patterns of the nervous and cardiac changes reflecting degrees of excitation and shock. Information gained from such work would be helpful in assessing the humane aspects of proposed procedures and devices.

It must not be overlooked that factors contributing to inhumane handling of animals include not only the design of facilities, the operating procedures, and the attitudes of persons involved, but also the characteristics, tendencies, and the often violent action of the animals themselves.

Fear and apprehension of the unknown sometimes cause animals to injure themselves and other animals even though no direct force had

been applied to them. This is especially true of animals that have been raised on the range or farm without confinement or individual handling.

Farmers obtain about 33 percent of their income from the sale of livestock and poultry for meat. Industry has a large stake in the handling, transporting, slaughtering, and processing of livestock and poultry. All must be concerned with the humane treatment of livestock and poultry.

This country places great reliance on its livestock and meat industry for the essential proteins in our ever-improving national diet.

The population of the United States is increasing at the rate of 2 million people annually. The per capita consumption of meat is now about one-third more than it was 20 years ago. Over 130 million animals and 1,400 million poultry must be processed each year to satisfy the demand.

Some years ago many groups interested in this field of humane handling of animals formed which is now called Livestock Conservation, Inc. The Department has worked closely with them to develop information on more humane methods of handling all classes of livestock and in the use of such methods.

Speed in the handling of livestock and poultry before and at the time of slaughter tends to reduce pain and injury. Livestock transportation and holding facilities have been improved in many ways to prevent suffocation, overheating, slipping, and other injuries to animals.

These gains are the direct results of experimental and developmental work, with the farmers, industry, humane associations, and the Department of Agriculture cooperating. Such an approach brings about the orderly progress that consumers, farmers and the livestock and meat industry have a right to expect.

In addition to this cooperation with farmers and others, the Department of Agriculture for many years has administered laws designed to promote the humane handling of livestock under certain limited conditions.

The so-called 28-hour law provides for the proper feeding and watering of livestock in interstate rail shipments.

Another act governs the handling of livestock for export overseas to assure that adequate and safe quarters will be provided on board ship or plane and that sufficient provisions will be made for feed and water in transit.

In both of these cases the livestock are not in the possession of the owner but are in the custody of others who may not be expected to feel the same degree of responsibility for their handling.

This aspect of the situation is emphasized in many cases by the fact that the railroad or shipping line has control of the only practical means of transport. Under such circumstances the administration of these laws by the Department of Agriculture rather than by local authorities is appropriate.

But this is under quite a different principle from that which would be involved in imposing the supervision of the Federal Government on a farmer or on a packer who is handling his own livestock and poultry on his own premises.

The Department of Agriculture accepts its share of the responsibility to develop and encourage the use of all practical improvements