Source:  Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 6/27/11

The Supreme Court announced it will review the Ninth Circuit's decision in a National Meat Association suit seeking injunctive relief from a California law that bans the slaughter of non-ambulatory livestock of all species.

At issue is the fact that the California law fails to distinguish between livestock at rest and livestock that have no independent mobility. It also deems 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. The law eliminates the ability of federal inspectors to conduct ante-mortem inspections of non-ambulatory swine.

Plaintiffs (NMA and the American Meat Institute) initially won their case in February, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned it in April.

The case is expected to be put on the Supreme Court’s calendar in the next term, which begins on October 4, 2011, according to an NMA statement.

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