Source:  Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 4/1/10

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday vacated an injunction of a California law that bans the slaughter of non-ambulatory livestock of all species and remanded the matter to the lower court for further proceedings, the National Meat Association said in a news release.

In February, a judge ruled that the Federal Meat Inspection Act preempts state law, because the state law differs from and adds to the federal law and usurps the authority of federal veterinarians and inspectors. That ruling sided with the plaintiffs, NMA and the American Meat Institute.

NMA officials called the appeals court's decision disappointing. According to NMA, the court has, for the first time, deemed non-ambulatory swine as a "kind of animal" and therefore not subject to USDA inspection regulations if a state requires immediate euthanasia, as the California law does.

Additionally, NMA CEO Barry Carpenter said, "This California law fails to distinguish between livestock at rest and livestock that have no independent mobility. That is a critical and potentially illegal failing for a state law that applies to animals on the premises of a USDA-inspected plant and under the jurisdiction of the Federal Meat Inspection Act."

Carpenter said NMA will discuss its options with its associates and legal counsel.

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