Title 81, Title 81

A person, firm, corporation, or association may not purchase the hide or carcass or any part of livestock slaughtered in a facility licensed pursuant to 81-9-201 without the inspection or identification required by this part. The provision of this section does not apply to a pers…

An officer having authority to make the inspection provided for in this part may enter into and inspect meat establishments required to be licensed under 81-9-201 or places where meat is handled in quantities, for the purpose of determining whether the provisions of this part hav…

Any person who violates any of the provisions of this part or who willfully falsifies any of the records required by this part to be kept shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100 or more than $500 or b…

(1) Except as provided in 50-49-203, it is unlawful for a person, firm, or corporation to engage in the business of slaughtering livestock or poultry, including the operation of a mobile slaughter facility as defined in 81-9-217, or processing, storing, or wholesaling livestock o…

(1) The owners or operators of slaughterhouses, packinghouses, meat depots, or other places of business engaged in the production, storage, or transportation of meats or meat foods are not required to procure a license from the department of public health and human services for t…

Sections 81-9-216 through 81-9-220 and 81-9-226 through 81-9-236 may be cited as the "Meat and Poultry Inspection Act".

As used in 81-9-216 through 81-9-220 and 81-9-226 through 81-9-236, the following definitions apply: (1) "Adulterated" means the term applied to meat if: (a) it bears or contains a poisonous or deleterious substance that may render it injurious to health, except that if the subst…

(1) The following persons are exempt from 81-9-201, 81-9-216 through 81-9-220, and 81-9-226 through 81-9-236: (a) a person who slaughters livestock or poultry or prepares or processes livestock or poultry products for the person's own personal or household use; (b) a person who t…

The provisions of 81-9-216 through 81-9-220 and 81-9-226 through 81-9-236 apply to persons, establishments, animals, and articles regulated under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. 601 through 695, the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. 451 through 470, as…

The board, upon the recommendation of the chief, shall adopt rules consistent with the requirements of the rules of the U.S. department of agriculture governing meat inspection. The rules must: (1) require antemortem and postmortem inspections, quarantines, segregation, and reins…

(1) There is a chief meat inspector, who must be appointed by the board and shall serve at its pleasure. (2) The chief shall supervise the state meat inspection program established in 81-9-216 through 81-9-220 and 81-9-226 through 81-9-236 and shall enforce the provisions of 81-9…

(1) Any meat establishment or mobile slaughter facility operator licensed under 81-9-201 may apply to the board for state meat and poultry inspection service. The application must include: (a) the name and address of the establishment or, in the case of a mobile slaughter facilit…

(1) The board shall provide meat inspection stamps to all official establishments, including mobile slaughter facilities, which must contain the words "Montana Inspected and Passed". The inspection stamps must be designed by the board so as to be not in conflict with inspection s…

(1) The chief shall assign inspectors to each official establishment and may assign one inspector to two or more establishments. (2) No establishment may slaughter or process cattle, buffalo, horses, sheep, swine, goats, or poultry unless an assigned inspector is present. The hou…

(1) Official establishments must have an antemortem inspection. The inspector assigned to each establishment shall examine each animal immediately prior to slaughter to eliminate all unfit animals and segregate for more thorough examination all animals suspected of being affected…

The inspector at an official establishment shall condemn all diseased or otherwise unfit carcasses and parts of carcasses, including the viscera. The condemned parts must be removed from the slaughtering facilities of the plant in equipment designated for that purpose and must be…

(1) Equines and their carcasses, parts of carcasses, and meat food products must be slaughtered and prepared in establishments separate from establishments where cattle, buffalo, sheep, swine, or goats are slaughtered or their carcasses, parts of carcasses, or meat food products …

(1) In carrying out the provisions of 81-9-216 through 81-9-220, 81-9-226 through 81-9-234, and 81-9-236, the chief shall consult with the department of environmental quality and any appropriate state laboratory in matters relating to the potability of water, to sewage systems, a…

(1) Except as provided in 81-9-216 through 81-9-220 and 81-9-226 through 81-9-236, no person may: (a) slaughter livestock or poultry or prepare livestock products or poultry products for human consumption; (b) sell or transport adulterated, misbranded, condemned, or uninspected m…

In addition to remedies provided in 81-9-216 through 81-9-220 and 81-9-226 through 81-9-236, the board is authorized to apply to the district court for and the court shall have jurisdiction, upon hearing and for cause shown, to grant a temporary or permanent injunction restrainin…

(1) A court of this state may not issue an injunction stopping or delaying the construction of an equine slaughter or processing facility licensed pursuant to 81-9-201 based on a challenge or appeal of a permit, license, certificate, or other approval issued in conjunction with a…

(1) (a) If an action is filed in district court to challenge the issuance of a license, permit, certificate, or other approval for an equine slaughter or processing facility pursuant to Title 75 or this chapter, the court shall require a surety bond of the person filing the actio…

(1) It is unlawful to operate in this state a rendering or disposal plant or establishment that is intended to be operated for the disposal of bodies or parts of bodies of animals or fowl in any manner, except for human consumption, without first securing a license from the depar…

The department may adopt and enforce rules or orders necessary for the supervision, control, and inspection of rendering or disposal plants or establishments, their standards and methods of operation and their sanitary conditions, and the supervision, control, and inspection of e…

(1) The department may restrain the operation of a rendering or disposal plant or establishment engaged in the collection or handling of the bodies or parts of bodies of dead animals or fowl, where the operation is carried on in violation of the laws of this state or the rules or…

A license to operate a rendering or disposal plant may be revoked at any time by the department when it determines that a person to whom the license is issued has failed to comply with any statute of this state or rules or orders of the department and on hearing before the depart…

Hearings held under 81-9-301 through 81-9-306 for either revocation of licenses or to restrain operation shall be held by the department, and the department or its agent may administer oaths, subpoena witnesses, and receive evidence in order to carry out 81-9-301 through 81-9-306…

Operation of a rendering or disposal plant or establishment without a license from the department or operation of a rendering or disposal plant or establishment in violation of a restraining order or after revocation of a license constitutes a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of…

When used in 81-9-311 through 81-9-317, the following definitions apply: (1) "Dead or fallen animal" means the carcass or dead body of a cow, ox, bull, stag, calf, steer, heifer, horse, mule, mare, colt, foal, or filly, the continued existence of which would create a public nuisa…

Licensed rendering plants shall provide themselves with serially-numbered metal identification tags of a size and design prescribed by the department and in a number series assigned by the department.

(1) When a licensed renderer or the renderer's agent receives a dead or fallen animal, the renderer or agent shall present a dead or fallen animal record to the person, corporation, or association that has requested the renderer or agent to remove the dead or fallen animal. The r…

At the time of the execution of the dead or fallen animal record provided for in 81-9-313, the licensed renderer or the renderer's agent who receives a dead or fallen animal shall tag the animal with one of the serially numbered identification tags provided in 81-9-312 and shall …

(1) On demand of a livestock inspector, sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff, or other peace officer, a licensed renderer or the renderer's agent who has received a dead or fallen animal shall produce for inspection an executed dead or fallen animal record identifying each dead …

When a licensed renderer or the renderer's agent disposes of the hides from dead or fallen animals, the hides must be handled and inspected for marks and brands in conformity with Title 81, chapter 9, part 4. The sheriff, deputy sheriff, person designated by the board of county c…

Any person who violates any of the provisions of 81-9-311 through 81-9-317 or who willfully falsifies any of the records required by 81-9-311 through 81-9-317 to be kept shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less …

(1) "Animal hide" means the hide of a bovine, equine, mule, ass, sheep, goat, or swine of any age, sex, or breed. (2) "Hide certificate" means a certificate showing a transfer of ownership of animal hides. (3) "Hide dealer" or "buyer" means, for the purpose of this part, every pe…

(1) A seller of an animal hide shall obtain a hide certificate from the person receiving the hide. The department shall prescribe the form of the certificate, which must include the marks and brands on each hide. The party receiving the hide shall designate where it will be kept …

(1) A state stock inspector or other officer who has authority to make an inspection of a slaughtered beef, veal, or hide of a beef or veal may seize and hold the hide when on inspection the officer finds that the brand is so altered, obliterated, or defaced that the original bra…

Before engaging in business in this state, a hide dealer or buyer shall obtain a license from the department. The department shall establish an annual license fee to be charged for each established place of business at which the hide dealer or buyer purchases or deals in hides. T…

Upon receipt of a certified copy of the judgment of conviction of any hide dealer or buyer for any violation of this part, the department may revoke the license of such person for 1 year commencing on the date of the licensee's conviction.

(1) Any person, firm, association, or corporation either selling or disposing of or purchasing hides in any manner who shall willfully or intentionally falsify a hide certificate covering such hides shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. (2) Any person who shall have received a…

Any person acting as a hide dealer or buyer without a license as required by this part is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Every person who knowingly mutilates, destroys, or conceals an animal hide for the purpose of removing evidence of ownership of such hide or the animal from which the hide was removed is guilty of a felony and punishable upon conviction thereof by a fine of not less than $500 or …