81-9-234. Violations -- penalties. - Montana Statutes

     81-9-234. Violations -- penalties. (1) Except as provided in 81-9-216 through 81-9-220 and 81-9-226 through 81-9-236, no person may:
     (a) slaughter livestock or poultry or prepare livestock products or poultry products for human consumption;
     (b) sell or transport adulterated, misbranded, condemned, or uninspected meats, livestock products, or poultry products;
     (c) falsely represent that an article has been inspected and passed or is exempted under 81-9-216 through 81-9-220 and 81-9-226 through 81-9-236 or knowingly make a false statement in any certificate provided for by rules prescribed by the board;
     (d) sell or transport slaughtered poultry from which the blood, feathers, feet, head, or viscera have not been removed;
     (e) fail to keep any records required by 81-9-216 through 81-9-220 and 81-9-226 through 81-9-236;
     (f) forge an official stamp, mark, or certificate;
     (g) use, alter, deface, detach, or destroy an official stamp, mark, or certificate without authorization;
     (h) fail to use or fail to detach, deface, or destroy an official stamp, mark, or certificate contrary to rules prescribed by the board;
     (i) knowingly possess a counterfeit certificate, stamp, or label or the carcass or parts of the carcass of an animal bearing a counterfeit or improperly altered official mark;
     (j) sell or transport an equine carcass or parts thereof unless they are conspicuously marked or otherwise identified to show the kind of animal from which they were derived;
     (k) buy, sell, or transport livestock products or poultry products not intended for human food unless they are naturally inedible by humans or are denatured or identified as required by rules prescribed by the board;
     (l) engage in the business of buying, selling, or transporting dead, dying, disabled, or diseased animals or parts of the carcasses of animals that died otherwise than by slaughter, or buy, sell, or transport dead, dying, disabled, or diseased livestock or poultry or the products of such livestock or poultry that died otherwise than by slaughter unless in accordance with rules adopted under 81-9-302 to assure that such livestock or poultry or the unwholesome parts or products thereof will be prevented from being used for human food purposes.
     (2) A person who violates 81-9-216 through 81-9-220 and 81-9-226 through 81-9-236 or rules adopted under 81-9-216 through 81-9-220 and 81-9-226 through 81-9-236 for which no other criminal penalty is provided is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction is punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or both. If the violation involves intent to defraud or any distribution or attempted distribution of an article that is adulterated, such person is guilty of a felony and upon conviction is punishable by imprisonment for not more than 3 years or by a fine of not more than $10,000, or both.

     History: En. Sec. 13, Ch. 577, L. 1987.