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N.J. moves on bill to ban gestation stalls, horse slaughter
Story Date: 6/6/2012
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Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 6/6/12
A New Jersey Senate committee on Tuesday approved a pair of bills that would prohibit gestation stalls use for pigs and horse slaughter or horse meat sales for human consumption in the state.
The first bill would establish an animal cruelty offense of cruel confinement of a gestating pig as a disorderly persons offense. The bill would define cruel confinement as crating, confining or tethering a gestating sow in order to prevent the free range of motion. Under the bill, a violator would be guilty of a disorderly persons offense, punishable by a fine of between $250 and $1,000 and up to six months imprisonment. Each gestating sow that is cruelly confined would be considered a separate offense.
The bill would also subject violators to an additional civil penalty of between $250 and $1,000 to be recovered in the name of the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or a county society for the prevention of animal cruelty.
The bill would create exemptions for medical research, veterinary examination or treatment, transportation, education or exhibition, animal husbandry, humane slaughter, or the proper care of the animal during the seven-day period prior to the expected date of the animal giving birth.
Horse meat
The second bill would prohibit slaughtering horses for human consumption or selling, trading or attempting to sell horse meat in New Jersey.
Under the bill, a person would be guilty of a disorderly persons offense, subject to a minimum criminal fine of $100 or a term of imprisonment not less than 30 days, for knowingly slaughtering a horse for consumption and sale purposes.
In addition to the criminal penalties under the bill, violators would be subject to additional civil fines of between $500 and $1,000 for each horse that has been slaughtered or transported, and each horse carcass or meat product that has been sold or bartered in violation of the bill’s provisions.
The bill now moves to the full New Jersey Senate for consideration.
For more stories, go to http://www.meatingplace.com/.
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