(a) An ante mortem inspection of poultry shall, where and to the extent considered necessary by the Administrator and under such instructions as he may issue from time to time, be made of poultry on the day of slaughter in any official establishment.

(b) The examination and inspection of ratites will be on the day of slaughter, except:

(1) When it is necessary for humane reasons to slaughter an injured animal at night or on a Sunday or holiday, and the FSIS veterinary medical officer cannot be obtained; or

(2) In low volume establishments, when ante mortem inspection cannot be done on the day of slaughter, and the birds to be slaughtered have received ante mortem inspection in the last 24 hours, provided the establishment has an identification and control system over birds that have received ante mortem inspection.

[37 FR 9706, May 16, 1972, as amended at 66 FR 22906, May 7, 2001]

(a) Birds plainly showing on ante mortem inspection any disease or condition, that under §§ 381.80 to 381.93, inclusive, would cause condemnation of their carcasses on post mortem inspection, shall be condemned. Birds which on ante mortem inspection are condemned shall not be dressed, nor shall they be conveyed into any department of the official establishment where poultry products are prepared or held. Poultry which has been condemned on ante mortem inspection and has been killed or died otherwise shall under the supervision of an inspector of the Inspection Service, be disposed of as provided in § 381.95.

(b) Dead-on-arrival ratites and ratites condemned on ante mortem inspection will be tagged “U.S. Condemned” by an establishment employee under FSIS supervision and disposed of by one of the methods prescribed in § 381.95.

(c) All seriously crippled ratites and non-ambulatory ratites, commonly termed “downers,” shall be identified as “U.S. Suspects.”

(d) Ratites exhibiting signs of drug or chemical poisoning shall be withheld from slaughter.

(e) Ratites identified as “U.S. Suspects” or “U.S. Condemned” may be set aside for treatment. The “U.S. Suspect” or “U.S. Condemned” identification device will be removed by an establishment employee under FSIS supervision following treatment if the bird is found to be free of disease. Such a bird found to have recovered from the condition for which it was treated may be released for slaughter or for purposes other than slaughter, provided that in the latter instance permission is first obtained from the local, State, or Federal sanitary official having jurisdiction over movement of such birds.

(f) When it is necessary for humane reasons to slaughter an injured ratite at night or Sunday or a holiday, and the Agency veterinary medical officer cannot be obtained, the carcass and all parts shall be kept for inspection, with the head and all viscera except the gastrointestinal tract held by the natural attachment. If all parts are not so kept for inspection, the carcass shall be condemned. If on inspection of a carcass slaughtered in the absence of an inspector, any lesion or other evidence is found indicating that the bird was sick or diseased, or affected with any other condition requiring condemnation of the animal on ante mortem inspection, or if there is lacking evidence of the condition that rendered emergency slaughter necessary, the carcass shall be condemned. Ratites that are sick, dying, or that have been treated with a drug or chemical and presented for slaughter before the required withdrawal period, are not covered by emergency slaughter provisions.

[37 FR 9706, May 16, 1972, as amended at 66 FR 22906, May 7, 2001; 67 FR 13258, Mar. 22, 2002]

(a) All birds, except ratites, that on ante mortem inspection do not plainly show, but are suspected of being affected with, any disease or condition that under §§ 381.80 to 381.93 of this Part may cause condemnation in whole or in part on post mortem inspection, shall be segregated from the other poultry and held for separate slaughter, evisceration, and post mortem inspection. The inspector shall be notified when such segregated lots are presented for post mortem inspection, and inspection of such birds shall be conducted separately. Such procedure for the correlation of ante mortem and post mortem findings by the inspector, as may be prescribed or approved by the Administrator, shall be carried out.

(b) All ratites showing symptoms of disease will be segregated, individually tagged as “U.S. Suspects” by establishment personnel under FSIS supervision with a serially numbered metal or plastic leg band or tag bearing the term “U.S. Suspect,” and held for further examination by an FSIS veterinarian. Depending upon the findings of the veterinarian's examination, these birds will either be passed for regular slaughter, slaughtered as suspects, withheld from slaughter, or condemned on ante mortem. Those ratites affected with conditions that would be readily detected on post mortem inspection need not be individually tagged on ante mortem inspection with the “U.S. Suspect” tag provided that such ratites are segregated and otherwise handled as “U.S. Suspects.” All ratites identified as “U.S. Condemned” shall be tagged by establishment personnel, under FSIS supervision, with a serially numbered metal or plastic leg band or tag bearing the term “U.S. Condemned.”

[66 FR 22906, May 7, 2001]

If live poultry, which is affected by any contagious disease which is transmissible to man, is brought into an official establishment, such poultry shall be segregated. The slaughtering of such poultry shall be deferred and the poultry shall be dealt with in one of the following ways:

(a) If it is determined by a veterinary inspector that further handling of the poultry will not create a health hazard, the lot shall be slaughtered separately, subject to ante mortem and post mortem inspection pursuant to the regulations.

(b) If it is determined by a veterinary inspector that further handling of the poultry will create a health hazard, such poultry may be released for treatment under the control of an appropriate State or Federal agency. If the circumstances are such that release for treatment is impracticable, a careful bird-by-bird ante mortem inspection shall be made, and all birds found to be, or which are suspected of being, affected with a contagious disease transmissible to man shall be condemned.

When any poultry at an official establishment is suspected of having been treated with or exposed to any substance that may impart a biological residue that would make their edible tissues adulterated, they shall, at the option of the operator of the establishment, be processed at the establishment and the carcasses and all parts thereof retained under U.S. Retained tags, pending final disposition in accordance with § 381.80, of this part, and other provisions in subpart K; or they shall be slaughtered at the establishment and buried or incinerated in a manner satisfactory to the inspector. Alternatively, such poultry may be returned to the grower, if further holding is likely to result in their not being adulterated by reason of any residue. The Inspection Service will notify the other Federal and State agencies concerned of such action. To aid in determining the amount of residue present in the poultry, officials of the Inspection Service may permit the slaughter of any such poultry for the purpose of collecting tissues for analysis of the residue. Such analysis may include the use of inplant screening procedures designed to detect the presence of antimicrobial residues in any species of poultry.

[47 FR 41336, Sept. 20, 1982]

(a) No poultry used in any research investigation involving an experimental biological product, drug, or chemical shall be eligible for slaughter at an official establishment unless the operator of such establishment, the sponsor of the investigation, or the investigator has submitted to the Inspection Service, or the Veterinary Biologics unit of Veterinary Services, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the Department or the Environmental Protection Agency, or the Food and Drug Administration of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, data or a summary evaluation of the data which demonstrates that the use of such biological product, drug, or chemical will not result in the products of such poultry being adulterated, and the Administrator has approved such slaughter.

[37 FR 9706, May 16, 1972, as amended at 39 FR 4569, Feb. 5, 1974]