Agriculture
Secretary Charles M. Kuperus today announced that
the Department of Agriculture has proposed comprehensive
standards for the humane treatment and care of livestock
in New Jersey, as well as rules and regulations governing
the enforcement of those standards. "New Jersey is
committed to ensuring the health and welfare of its
farm animals," said Secretary Kuperus. "These standards
will protect livestock by providing a clear baseline
for determining when inhumane treatment occurs, ensuring
that treatment that falls below that baseline can
be accurately identified and promptly addressed by
all applicable enforcement authorities." The proposal
- published in today's New Jersey Register -
establishes standards for the humane raising, keeping,
care, treatment, marketing and sale of domestic livestock.
The standards cover horses, cattle, pigs, sheep,
goats, llamas, alpaca, poultry and rabbits. They
apply to livestock farm operations as well as hobbyists
or other individuals who own one or more of these
types of animals. Currently, suspected cases of inhumane
treatment of farm animals are investigated and enforced
under the state's animal cruelty statute by state
or county SPCAs, local animal control officers or
other state and local officials. Because investigators
have varying degrees of familiarity with livestock
care, the standards are expected to provide these
investigators with clear guidelines and result in
greater consistency in enforcement investigations
and actions. In addition, the Department of Agriculture
will train certified livestock inspectors with expertise
in specific animal specialties to conduct investigations
on its behalf or be available to provide assistance
to other enforcement agents on their request. New
Jersey has approximately 2,700 livestock farms. The
state's producers own 46,000 cattle and calves, 15,000
hogs and pigs, 13,000 sheep and lambs, 4,000 goats,
3,000 rabbits and 2,000 llamas and alpacas, as well
as more than two million chickens, turkeys and ducks.
New Jersey also has approximately 49,000 horses.
The Department developed the standards with the assistance
of veterinarians and representatives of Rutgers University's
Cook College, the N.J. SPCA and the livestock industry.
The
rule proposal can be found on the Department's
web site at www.state.nj.us/agriculture. Written
comments must be submitted by July 4th. The Department
also will hold a public hearing on the proposed
rule on Friday, June 20th, from 9:30 a.m. to 5
p.m. at the Cook Campus Center, Multi-Purpose Room
C, Rutgers University, 59 Biel Road in New Brunswick.
Anyone wishing to testify at this hearing should
call (609) 777-0553 in advance to facilitate scheduling. |