The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2024 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Title 6 : Agriculture
Chapter 201 : Humane Slaughter of Livestock
(Cite as: 6 V.S.A. § 3131)-
§ 3131. Definitions
As used in this chapter:
(1) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets.
(2) “Slaughterer” means any person regularly engaged in the commercial slaughtering of livestock.
(3) “Livestock” means cattle, calves, sheep, swine, horses, mules, goats, fallow deer, American bison, and any other animal that can or may be used in and for the preparation of meat or meat products.
(4) “Packer” means any person engaged in the business of slaughtering, manufacturing, or preparing meat or meat products for sale.
(5) “Stockyard” means any place, establishment, or facility conducted or operated for compensation or profit as a public market, consisting of pens, or other enclosures, and their appurtenances, for the handling, keeping, and holding of livestock for sale or shipment.
(6) “Humane method” means either:
(A) a method by which the animal is rendered insensible to pain by mechanical, electrical, chemical, or other means that is rapid and effective before being shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut; or
(B) a method in accordance with ritual requirements of the Jewish faith or any other religious faith under which the animal suffers loss of consciousness by anemia of the brain caused by the simultaneous and instantaneous severance of the carotid arteries with a sharp instrument. (Added 1967, No. 297 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. March 20, 1968; amended 1987, No. 276 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 131, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 6, § 62, eff. July 1, 2023.)
