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San Francisco judge has ruled that chickens are not "livestock,"
and, as a result, are not subject to the Humane Methods
of Slaughter Act, according to court filings.
A lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States
against the Agriculture Department argued that USDA had
misinterpreted the 50-year-old act.
"The court finds the legislative history strongly demonstrates
unambiguous congressional intent that livestock, as used
in the HMSA, does not include poultry," U.S. District Court
Judge Marilyn Hall Patel wrote in her opinion.
Judge Patel granted summary judgment in USDA's favor and
dismissed the lawsuit.
HSUS's argument was based on a 1958 dictionary definition
of livestock that said that the word encompassed "useful"
animals on a farm, while USDA said that the term livestock
has always internally meant to exclude poultry.
"The plain language of these bills indicates that Congress
intended to exclude poultry from the definition of livestock
when it enacted H.R. 8308, the bill that eventually became
the HMSA," Patel wrote.
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