SECTIONS 19340-19358 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 19340-19358

19340. No slaughterer shall own or control directly or indirectly,
through stock ownership or control or otherwise, by himself or
through his agents or employees, any interest in a person or company
licensed to haul dead animals by Section 19320 unless his
slaughterhouse is under state or federal inspection.

19342. No slaughterer shall pick up or receive any dead animal at
his slaughterhouse except those which have died en route and such
animals shall be transported directly and without delay to a licensed
rendering establishment, however apparently healthy animals
transported by a person other than a dead animal hauler, found to
have just expired on arrival due to injuries during transportation
may be immediately slaughtered under conditions specified by the
secretary which will conform to the purposes of this chapter.

19343. Every establishment where animals are slaughtered for pet
food, or where fresh or frozen pet food is processed or prepared
shall be maintained and operated in a clean and sanitary manner.

19344. All fresh or frozen meat, meat byproducts, horsemeat, and
horsemeat byproducts sold or offered for sale to the public as pet
food shall conform to the standards of this chapter or regulations
promulgated by the director.

19346. Any carcasses or parts or products of animals which are not
intended for use as human food shall prior to their being offered for
sale or transportation, be denatured or otherwise identified as
prescribed by regulations of the director to prevent their use as
human food. No person shall buy, sell, transport, or offer for sale
or transportation or receive for transportation any carcasses, parts
thereof, meat or meat food product of any such animals which are not
intended for use as human food unless they are denatured or otherwise
identified as required by the regulations of the director.

19347. The Legislature finds that the use in pet food of animals
that died from reasons other than slaughtering and pet food prepared
from diseased animals or not prepared under sanitary conditions
creates a public health hazard to the citizens and animals of this
state.

19348. (a) Unless a waiver is granted by the State Veterinarian in
conjunction with implementation of Section 9562 or a declaration of a
state of emergency or local emergency, as defined in subdivisions
(b) and (c) of Section 8558 of the Government Code, pursuant to the
California Emergency Services Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section
8550) of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code), no dead
animal hauler or any other person shall transport any dead animal to
any place, other than to a licensed rendering plant, a licensed
collection center, an animal disease diagnostic laboratory acceptable
to the department, the nearest crematory, or to a destination in
another state that has been approved for that purpose by the
appropriate authorities in that state.
(b) The secretary may issue a master or individual permit to a
licensed renderer, collection center, or dead animal hauler for the
purpose of authorizing transport of a dead animal to an appropriately
permitted landfill under either of the following circumstances:
(1) During a proclaimed state of emergency or local emergency, as
defined in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 8558 of the Government
Code.
(2) When the licensed hauler has certification from a licensed
renderer, that the licensed renderer cannot process the dead animal
due to operational conditions or legal or regulatory requirements or
constraints. The certification shall be in a form approved by the
department and, for purposes of this paragraph, "licensed hauler"
shall include licensed collection centers and renderers.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to conflict with
any state or federal environmental or zoning law, or to prohibit an
owner of a live animal from burying the animal on the owner's
property after the animal dies if the burial is within three miles of
where the animal died.
(d) Subdivision (a) does not apply to the Department of
Transportation or to local agencies having jurisdiction over a road
or highway when engaged in removing animal carcasses from the road or
highway.

19348.1. The State Veterinarian is authorized to approve temporary
research projects for the purpose of determining whether alternative
methods of animal tissue disposal are capable of destroying organisms
that cause disease and can be used effectively to protect public
health and agricultural animals. Temporary projects shall not be
approved for a period longer than 24 months.

19348.5. Every person who transports a live horse or horses to a
slaughterhouse subject to licensing under this chapter shall provide
such horse or horses with adequate food and water. A violation of
this section shall constitute cruelty to an animal within the meaning
of Section 597a of the Penal Code.

19349. All trucks and every licensed premises of a dead animal
hauler shall be inspected by the bureau at least once a year before
the license is renewed and at other times as the secretary deems
necessary.

19350. Vehicles used for dead animal hauling shall be completely
unloaded, cleaned, and disinfected at the rendering plant.

19352. Inspectors and duly authorized agents of the state, city,
county, and city and county health departments shall have free access
at all hours of operation to premises where animals are slaughtered,
or horsemeat or other meat products are processed, prepared, packed
for pet food, or offered for sale or sold, for purposes of
inspection. If slaughtering or carcass preparation or processing of
meats and meat products is conducted at hours considered overtime for
state employees, or on legal holidays, the owner or operator of the
establishment shall by contract or agreement with the department,
make arrangement to defray the additional cost for salaries and
expenses for persons employed by the department to conduct the
necessary inspection work during the overtime periods.

19353. Horses, mules, burros, cattle, sheep, goats and swine may be
slaughtered on the premises of a pet food slaughterer.

19354. A dead animal hauler shall register each vehicle used to
transport dead animals with the bureau.

19355. No licensee shall refuse to permit entry or inspection by a
representative of the department, or to permit the taking of a sample
of products.

19356. No meat or meat byproduct or horsemeat or horsemeat
byproduct shall be sold or offered for sale as pet food or for pet
food purposes by any person under any name or other marking or
labeling which is false or misleading, or in any container of a
misleading form or size, but established trade names and other
marking and labeling and containers which are not false or misleading
and which are approved by the director, are permitted.

19357. All labels or other identification marks or methods for
articles subject to this chapter shall be approved by the director in
advance of their use.

19358. No person shall sell, transport, or offer for sale or
transportation any meat or meat byproduct, horsemeat, or horsemeat
byproduct subject to this article that is misbranded as prescribed by
regulation of the director.