Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 6, March 18, 2024
(a) These rules establish minimum humane standards for the raising, keeping, care, treatment, marketing, and sale of domestic livestock and procedures for the enforcement of those standards, pursuant to the direction of 4:22-16.1. For purposes of these rules, an animal's status or well-being shall be determined based on a holistic evaluation of the animal.
(b) It shall be presumed that the raising, keeping, care, treatment, marketing and sale of domestic livestock for purposes that include, but are not limited to, their use for food, fiber or service, in accordance with these standards, does not constitute cruelty to or inhumane care and treatment of domestic livestock in violation of 4:22-15 et seq.
1. The specific husbandry practices identified in and performed in accordance with this chapter, have been determined by the Department to meet the standards of humane treatment of domestic livestock and qualify for the presumption.
2. For husbandry practices not specifically identified in this chapter that do not qualify for the presumption but may be found to be humane, based upon techniques for necessary livestock management and producers included in the following science-based sources or other sources, which may be shown to incorporate similar science-based standards:
i. The Handbook of Livestock Management, Battaglia, fourth edition, 2007. A copy of this document is on file in the Director's Office, Division of Animal Health, New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Health and Agriculture Building, John Fitch Plaza, Trenton, New Jersey 08625;
ii. The Guide for the Care and Use of Agricultural Animals in Research and Teaching, Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS) third edition (2010),
http://www.fass.org/docs/agguide3rd/Ag_Guide_3rd_ed.pdf;
iii. American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Guidelines on Euthanasia (June 2007), available at
http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/euthanasia.pdf;
iv. The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) equine welfare, available at
http://www.aaep.org/equine_welfare.htm;
v. The Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, New Brunswick, New Jersey, available at
http://sebs.rutgers.edu/; and
vi. The New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, available at
http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/category.asp?cat=2.
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit owners from providing medical care and treatment to their own animals provided it is performed in compliance with all local, State and Federal laws.
1. Certain treatments may be withheld for food safety considerations (for example, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory medicine, analgesics).
