7 U.S.C. § 1902
Section 1902 · Humane methods
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah (1993)
Most recently applied in Association des Éleveurs de Canards et d'Oies du Québec v. Becerra (September 2017)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
No method of slaughtering or handling in connection with slaughtering shall be deemed to comply with the public policy of the United States unless it is humane. Either of the following two methods of slaughtering and handling are hereby found to be humane:
(a) in the case of cattle, calves, horses, mules, sheep, swine, and other livestock, all animals are rendered insensible to pain by a single blow or gunshot or an electrical, chemical or other means that is rapid and effective, before being shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut; or
(b) by slaughtering in accordance with the ritual requirements of the Jewish faith or any other religious faith that prescribes a method of slaughter whereby 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 and handling in connection with such slaughtering.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1978—Par. (b). Pub. L. 95–445 inserted “and handling in connection with such slaughtering” at end.
Effective Date of 1978 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 95–445 effective one year after Oct. 10, 1978, and nonapplicability during not to exceed additional 18 months in hardship cases, see sec. 7 of Pub. L. 95–445 set out as a note under section 603 of Title 21, Food and Drugs.