Cattle and Cattle Diseases

Section 3-1-17

Notification of owners, etc., of dairies upon discovery of cows affected with tuberculosis.

Whenever any regular authorized inspector or his assistant of any city or town in this state shall find that any dairy cow or cows in any dairy in the county or in an adjoining county of such city or town used for the production of milk for the inhabitants of any such city or town are affected with tuberculosis, as determined by the tuberculin test of the Department of Agriculture of the United States of America, or are as otherwise shown to be affected with tuberculosis, such authorized inspector of such city or town or his assistant shall immediately notify the owner, proprietor or manager of such dairy, either in person or in writing, of the presence of such animal or animals affected with such tuberculosis.

(Acts 1911, No. 503, p. 566; Code 1923, §4442; Code 1940, T. 3, §14.)

Section 3-1-18

Removal from herd and slaughter or isolation of tuberculous cows generally; procedure for isolation, retesting, slaughter, etc., of same; compensation of owners for slaughtered cows, etc., determined not to have been affected by tuberculosis.

The owner or proprietor or manager of any such dairy, upon being notified by such inspector or his assistant, shall remove or cause to be removed, within 24 hours, said tuberculous cow or cows from his herd to a public abattoir and, under the supervision of such inspector or his assistant, such tuberculous cow or cows must be slaughtered immediately unless such owner, proprietor or manager removes said tuberculous cow or cows from the herd under the supervision of such inspector or his assistant and keeps them isolated therefrom at the expense of the owner for a period of from two to six months, at the expiration of which time said cow or cows shall be retested by said inspector or his assistant and also by some competent veterinarian to be selected by the owner of said cow or cows and, if said inspector or his assistant and the veterinarian so selected by the owner shall fail to agree as to whether said cow or cows are affected with tuberculosis, then said inspector or his assistant, together with the veterinarian selected by the owner, shall call in another competent veterinarian to test said cow or cows. If a majority of such persons should determine that said cow or cows are affected with tuberculosis, the same shall be slaughtered immediately. A postmortem examination on the slaughtered cows shall thereupon be held by the three persons designated in this section, and, if it should be determined by said persons or a majority of them after the holding of such postmortem examination that said cow or cows are not affected with tuberculosis, then the city, town or county employing said inspector who originally pronounced said cows affected with tuberculosis shall immediately pay to the owner of such cow or cows the reasonable value thereof and the reasonable fees of the veterinarian or his assistant called in to aid said inspector or his assistant in making the postmortem examination of said cow or cows.

(Acts 1911, No. 503, p. 566; Code 1923, §§4443-4445; Code 1940, T. 3, §15.)

Section 3-1-19

Penalties for violations of provisions of Sections 3-1-17 and 3-1-18.

Any person, firm, corporation or association violating the provisions of Sections 3-1-17 and 3-1-18 shall be fined not more than $500.00 and may also be sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail for three months.