AN ACT Relating to the protection of horses and other equines from slaughter for human consumption; amending RCW 16.52.180 and 16.68.010; adding a new section to chapter 16.52 RCW; creating new sections; repealing RCW 16.68.140; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

(1) Horses and other equines are not bred and raised as part of the human food chain in America and the state of Washington but are bred and raised exclusively as recreation, companion, sports, service, and working animals. It is therefore the intent of the legislature to define horses as nonfood for human consumption animals under state law. Horses and other equines are already defined as nonfood animals by the United States food and drug administration and are therefore allowed to be routinely administered without regulation over three hundred veterinary medications specifically determined to be a health hazard for humans and expressly banned by the United States food and drug administration for human food producing animals.

(2) Allowing the slaughter of horses and other members of the equine species for human consumption or allowing horses and other equines or their meat to be possessed, purchased, sold, bartered, given freely, or transported for slaughter for human consumption, represents a grave threat to human safety, health, and life and should therefore be made illegal in the state of Washington and punishable as a felony.

(3) Horses cannot be killed or transported humanely in large numbers because they are fear driven, head shy, and inquisitive animals, unlike other traditional food producing animals, and a high percentage of horses are injured or killed during transport or are still alive and conscious when slung and gutted in even the most modern slaughterhouses, constituting an act of extreme animal cruelty.

(4) Equine slaughterhouses present a major pollution hazard caused by horses having 1.7 times the amount of blood of cattle of equal weight, which does not break down into other usable products and invariably impacts local water systems when disposed of.

(5) In addition, in virtually every local community where horse slaughterhouses have operated there has been an increase in the local crime rate, including prevalence of violent crimes, due to the nature of poorly paid and transient workers employed by these slaughterhouses.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 16.52 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, it is unlawful for any person to:

(a) Slaughter a horse if that person knows or should know that any of the meat from the slaughtered animal is intended to be used for human consumption;

(b) Possess, purchase, barter, or sell privately; purchase, barter, or sell at retail; exhibit for barter or sale or give freely; or possess or transport with the intent to barter or sell, horses if that person knows or should know that the horse or its meat will be used for human consumption; or

(c) Transport a horse over the roads and highways or by rail, air, or sea in, into, through, or from Washington if that person knows or should know that it is intended for human consumption.

(2) For the purposes of this section:

(a) "Horse" includes all members of the equine family, including horses, ponies, donkeys, mules, hennys, asses, and burros.

(b) "Horse meat" means the flesh of any horse, including the animal's viscera, skin, hair, hide, hooves, and bones.

(c) "Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, trust, association, or other legal entity.

(3) Any person who violates this section is guilty of a class B felony. Each individual violation of this section constitutes a separate offense, and each horse involved in a violation of this section constitutes a separate offense.

Sec. 3.  RCW 16.52.180 and 1994 c 261 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:

No part of this chapter, except section 2 of this act, shall be deemed to interfere with any of the laws of this state known as the "game laws," nor be deemed to interfere with the right to destroy any venomous reptile or any known as dangerous to life, limb or property, or to interfere with the right to kill animals to be used for food or with any properly conducted scientific experiments or investigations, which experiments or investigations shall be performed only under the authority of the faculty of some regularly incorporated college or university of the state of Washington or a research facility registered with the United States department of agriculture and regulated by 7 U.S.C. Sec. 2131 et seq.

Sec. 4.  RCW 16.68.010 and 2011 c 336 s 438 are each amended to read as follows:

For the purposes of this chapter, unless clearly indicated otherwise by the context:

(1) "Carcass" means all parts, including viscera, of a dead meat food animal;

(2) "Dead animal" means the body of a meat food animal, or any part or portion thereof: PROVIDED, That the following dead animals are exempt from the provisions of this chapter:

(a) Edible products from an edible meat food animal by a licensed slaughtering establishment;

(b) Edible products where the meat food animal was slaughtered under farm slaughter permit;

(c) Edible products where the meat food animal was slaughtered by a bona fide farmer on his or her own ranch for his or her own consumption;

(d) Hides from meat food animals that are properly identified as to ownership and brands;

(3) "Director" means the director of agriculture;

(4) "Independent collector" means any person who does not own a licensed rendering plant within the state of Washington but is properly equipped and licensed to transport dead animals or packing house refuse to a specified rendering plant.

(5) "Meat food animal" means only cattle, ((horses, mules, asses,)) swine, sheep, and goats;

(6) "Person" means any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, or association;

(7) "Place of transfer" means an authorized reloading site for the direct transfer of dead animals or packing house refuse from the vehicle making original pickup to the line vehicle that will transport the dead animals or packing house refuse to a specified licensed rendering plant;

(8) "Rendering plant" means any place of business or location where dead animals or any part or portion thereof, or packing house refuse, are processed for the purpose of obtaining the hide, skin, grease residue, or any other by-product whatsoever;

(9) "Substation" means a properly equipped and authorized concentration site for the temporary storage of dead animals or packing house refuse pending final delivery to a licensed rendering plant.

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