Emergency slaughter

Introduction

To further strengthen the province's food safety system and on farm animal welfare, while improving the competitive environment for small to medium-sized enterprises, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) allows for the emergency slaughter (ES) of food animals outside of a slaughter plant in certain circumstances.

Emergency Slaughter provisions protect stakeholder investment by allowing livestock producers to obtain value for their escaped, injured or dangerous food animals. As there are costs associated with these provisions, ES is a business decision that may not be an economically viable option for food animals with a lower value (for example, cattle over 30 months of age, young or any other food animal/bird species).

Emergency Slaughter provisions in Ontario Regulation 31/05 (Meat) made under the Food Safety and Quality Act, 2001 allow for the ante-mortem inspection, slaughter and bleeding of a food animal outside of a slaughter plant and the transport of the carcass to a licensed abattoir for dressing and post-mortem inspection. If approved, the carcass can be processed into an inspected meat product. Meat from food animals slaughtered under the ES provisions is fully inspected and eligible to be sold, shared, donated, or distributed to the public.

Eligibility requirements and authorization

Emergency Slaughter must be authorized by the Veterinary Scientist (VS) or a Regional Veterinarian (RV) appointed by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

A VS/RV can authorize the ante-mortem inspection and slaughter of a food animal outside of a slaughter plant if the VS/RV has no reason to believe the animal is unfit for slaughter, and in the opinion of the VS/RV, slaughter outside of the plant is necessary because the food animal either:

• is injured and cannot be transported without undue suffering or distress
• has escaped
• cannot be loaded or transported without endangering itself, another animal, or a person (dangerous)

Emergency slaughter process

Emergency slaughter (ES) provisions in Ontario Regulation 31/05 (Meat) made under the Food Safety and Quality Act, 2001 (FSQA) allow for the humane slaughter of a food animal outside of a slaughter plant that is injured, escaped or dangerous and the transport of its carcass to an abattoir licensed by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) for dressing and processing. Under these provisions, this animal receives ante and post-mortem inspection and is therefore inspected. The meat from this animal may be approved for human consumption and can be sold, distributed, shared, or donated to the public.

If you have an otherwise healthy food animal that is injured, escaped or dangerous and you want to send it's carcass to a provincially licensed abattoir for processing, you need to start the process by contacting both:

• an OMAFRA Veterinary Scientist (VS) or Regional Veterinarian (RV)
• a provincially licenced meat plant

A VS/RV must authorize the Emergency Slaughter as the VS/RV will determine the conditions that a producer must follow. The meat plant must agree to accept the ES carcass.

After the meat plant has agreed to accept the ES carcass and a VS/RV has authorized the ES, the food animal must undergo an ante-mortem inspection by an individual appointed as an inspector under the FSQA.

If food animal does not pass ante-mortem inspection and cannot be sent to an abattoir. Follow VS/RV stated disposition (for example, euthanasia, on farm slaughter for personal consumption). (end)

Or food animal passes ante-mortem inspection and the producer can humanely slaughter (stun and bleed) the food animal.

If the animal is a head of cattle, contact the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for a permit to transport the carcass (Contact CFIA at 1-866-788-8155 or 1-800-442-2342). (end)

Or producer arranges transport of the carcass to a licensed meat plant specified by the VS/RV. If the carcass is a bovine, the meat plant must be permitted by the CFIA to receive such a carcass. Note that you may be charged a fee by the plant operator.

At the meat plant, the carcass and/or parts must undergo a post-mortem inspection by an individual appointed as an inspector under the FSQA.

If the carcass and/or parts of the carcass pass post-mortem inspection. The carcass and/or parts are stamped and may be sold, distributed, shared, or donated as food for human consumption.

The carcass and/or parts of the carcass do not pass post-mortem inspection and must be condemned and disposed of in accordance with O. Reg. 31/05.

This document is for summary and information purposes only. For specific details, refer to Part VIII.1 of Ontario Regulation 31/05 (Meat).

June 29, 2017

General

A producer, plant operator, OMAFRA inspector, or an appointed veterinarian (AV) can initiate an emergency slaughter (ES) by calling the OMAFRA VS. Authorization for ES is provided only to OMAFRA inspectors or an AV.

All emergency slaughter must be approved by the Veterinary Scientist or a Regional Veterinarian.

A food animal authorized for ES must still undergo an ante-mortem inspection by either an OMAFRA inspector or AV depending on the circumstances. The process differs slightly depending on whether the animal is injured, escaped or dangerous:

• Injured animal.The ante-mortem inspection can only be performed by an appointed veterinarian. In this case, a veterinary inspector must be available in a timely manner to conduct the ES for animal welfare reasons. If an AV is not readily available, the ES will not be authorized.
• Escaped/dangerous animal. Emergency slaughter services may be performed by either an OMAFRA inspector or an AV.

All animals approved for ES are subject to ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection per normal regulatory requirements.

For all species, a licensed meat plant must be willing to accept the ES carcass for timely processing and presentation for inspection. Refer to the list of OMAFRA licensed abattoirs.

Please note that not all OMAFRA licensed abattoirs are able to receive ES cattle carcasses (see emergency slaughter of cattle).

The emergency slaughter must be performed in accordance with the regulation (Ontario Regulation 31/05). An authorization by an VS/RV for ES may include conditions that must be met. Conditions may include the following:

• time restrictions on the time from bleed out to the completion of the post-mortem inspection
• testing for drug residues
• testing for BSE/CWD (see 'Additional ES requirements for cattle')
• laboratory testing
• additional contact with the VS/RV if unexpected abnormalities are identified, and
• any condition the authorizing VS/RV may deem necessary for animal welfare, animal health or food safety reasons.

Meat harvested from a carcass processed under the ES process may be approved for human consumption and sold, shared, donated, or distributed to the public.

Additional ES requirements for cattle

• Transport of all bovine carcasses requires a valid Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) permit to transport Specified Risk Material (SRM). Refer to CFIA Permit to Transport ES Cattle Carcasses for more information.
• Abattoirs potentially receiving the ES cattle carcass must have a valid CFIA permit to harvest SRM. Refer to the Table 2. List of Provincially Licensed Abattoirs with CFIA Permits to Receive Emergency Slaughter Cattle. Note that meat plants can be permitted to receive under thirty-month (UTM) cattle, over thirty month (OTM) cattle, or both UTM and OTM.
• All injured cattle over thirty months of age processed under ES authorization are subject to testing for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).

Fees

Meat plant operators are responsible for all fees related to emergency slaughter (ES) authorizations and inspections. The fees associated with emergency slaughter requirements are set out in Table 1 (Reference: O. Reg. 223/05).

Permits to transport or receive emergency slaughter cattle carcasses

Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) permits are required by any person transporting a bovine carcass and by the any meat plant receiving an ES bovine carcass. Permits are not required for bison, muskox, water buffalo, cervids or yak.

Permit to transport ES cattle carcasses (livestock producers)

To obtain a CFIA Emergency Slaughter Transport permit, call 1-866-788-8155.

The CFIA has requested that the district office (List of CFIA District Offices and Contact Information) closest to your area be contacted during regular business hours to arrange the permit.

The CFIA inspector on-call will ask for certain information. Be prepared to answer the following:

• producer's name, mailing address (including postal code), 911 number (including county), and phone number
• plant name where ES is going
• CCIA tag number and/or ES leg band number (leg bands are supplied by the appointed inspector)
• make, colour and plate number of the vehicle to be used to transport the ES

At the conclusion of the call, the CFIA inspector will provide a CFIA transport permit. The CFIA district office may follow-up with the producer in the days following the issuance of a permit.

Permits to receive ES cattle carcasses (meat plant operators)

CFIA permits are issued for over thirty-month (OTM) cattle, under thirty-month (UTM) cattle, or for both OTM and UTM. These permits are good for one year. CFIA animal health inspectors may perform plant visits to permit holders.

To obtain a CFIA permit, a plant operator must fill out the CFIA permit application form (#5405) available from a CFIA district office or online (CFIA permit application form) and submit it to the nearest CFIA district office (list of CFIA district offices and contact information). In order to receive ES cattle, a permit application must be submitted to the local CFIA district office for approval along with a standard operating procedure for handling ES carcasses in your plant.

This plant list is current as of July 27, 2021.

Contact us

OMAFRA veterinary contacts

To inquire or arrange for emergency slaughter, please contact the Veterinary Scientist at 519-546-4981.