H. B. 2690
(By Delegates Talbot, Argento, Pethtel,
Swartzmiller, Tabb, Beach, Williams,
Anderson, Evans, Schoen and C. Miller)
[Introduced February 20, 2009; referred to the
Committee on Agriculture then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §19-9-28, §19-9-29, §19-9-30, §19-9-31,
§19-9-32, §19-9-33, §19-9-34 and §19-9-34a of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to updating language
pertaining to indemnity for the death of diseased or infected
animals; deleting outdated amounts paid to appraisers and
arbitrators for services rendered; and disposing of dead
domesticated animals.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §19-9-28, §19-9-29, §19-9-30, §19-9-31, §19-9-32,
§19-9-33, §19-9-34 and §19-9-34a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9. DISEASES AMONG DOMESTIC ANIMALS AND EUTHANASIA OF
DISEASED ANIMALS.
§19-9-28. Indemnity for euthanizing infected or exposed animals;
agreement.
Whenever, to prevent the spread of any communicable disease, which cannot be cured or controlled by isolation and adequate or
proper veterinary treatment, it shall be deemed necessary by the
commissioner or any of his
or her agents to cause any animal found
to be infected with or directly exposed to any infectious,
contagious or communicable disease, which cannot be cured or
controlled by isolation and adequate or proper veterinary
treatment, to be
killed euthanized, and
if the owner of
such the
animal shall desire to receive indemnity therefor,
he the owner
shall be required by the commissioner before the appraisal and
slaughter death of the animal to execute an agreement that
he the
owner will thoroughly clean and disinfect all premises that may
have been infected by
such the animal in
such a manner
as the
commissioner may prescribe, and, in case
such the animal
is has
tuberculous tuberculosis, that
he the owner will have
his the
entire herd of bovine animals tested with tuberculin by the
commissioner or his
or her agent at such times as the commissioner
may designate, and will not admit to
his the herd any bovine animal
that has not given a negative reaction to the test.
Such The
agreement shall be in duplicate, one copy to be retained by the
signer, and
on such a form
as the commissioner shall prescribe, and
shall be signed by the owner or his
or her agent.
and The
agreement shall be effective for a period of two years from the
date thereof. All
such animals, for which indemnity is claimed by
the owner, shall be appraised before being
slaughtered, euthanized, and the
owners owner be indemnified as hereinafter provided:
Provided, however, That any animal infected with rabies may be
slaughtered euthanized by the owner or any person authorized to do
so without
such an agreement and appraisal first being had, and if
the disease is caused by the bite of a dog, the animal shall be
appraised and compensation therefor obtained as provided in article
twenty of this chapter.
§19-9-29. When right of indemnity does not exist.
The right of indemnity shall not exist nor shall payment be
made in any of the following cases:
(a) For animals owned by the United States, this state, or any
county, city, town or village in this state;
(b) For animals brought into this state contrary to the
provisions of this article, or where the owner of the animals or
person claiming compensation has failed to comply with the
provisions of
the same this article;
(c) When the owner or claimant at the time of coming into
possession of the animal knew or had reason to believe it to be
afflicted with a communicable disease;
(d) When the owner has been guilty of negligence or carelessly
exposed such animals to a communicable disease;
and
(e) When the owner has refused or neglected to comply with the
sanitary requirements of the commissioner of agriculture or his
or
her agents.
(f) When the animals are fully sexed males over six months of
age and are not registered.
§19-9-30. Appraisal of infected or exposed animals; amount;
arbitration; fees of arbitrators.
The commissioner or his
or her agent shall act as appraiser
and appraise each infected or directly exposed animal within five
days prior to the date of
slaughter euthanizing the animal, basing
the amount upon the class and market value of the animal at the
time of the appraisal, whether for breeding purposes or for milk or
meat production. Animals reacting to any approved test, but not
exhibiting any physical evidence of disease, shall be appraised
without considering the presence of a diseased condition, but
animals exhibiting any physical evidence of disease shall be
appraised as infected animals:
Provided, however, That where
indemnities are claimed for directly exposed animals slaughtered on
account of being infected with rabies, appraisement shall be based
on the value of the animal before it became infected.
The amount
of appraisal for a nonregistered equine animal shall not exceed
seventy-five dollars, for a registered equine animal one hundred
dollars, for a nonregistered bovine animal one hundred and fifty
dollars, for a registered bovine animal two hundred and fifty
dollars, for a nonregistered swine twenty-five dollars, for a
registered swine forty dollars, for a nonregistered sheep ten
dollars, and for a registered sheep twenty-five dollars. If the amount of appraisal of any animal, as determined by the appraiser,
is not satisfactory to the owner of the animal, a written notice of
such this fact setting forth the reason for complaint shall be made
at once to the appraiser. The amount of the appraisal shall then
be determined by arbitrators, one to be appointed by the appraiser
and one by the owner of the animal. If these arbitrators are not
able to agree as to the amount of appraisal, a third arbitrator
shall be appointed by them, whose decision shall be final.
Each
arbitrator shall be paid one dollar for each appraisement of five
or less than five animals, and two dollars if more than five
animals are appraised. Compensation for the arbitrators appointed
by the owner and the appraiser shall be paid by the party
appointing
such the arbitrator, and in case a third arbitrator is
chosen,
such the arbitrator shall be paid by the party against whom
the decision is made.
§19-9-31. Certificate of appraisal.
When the animal is to be
slaughtered euthanized, the
commissioner or his
or her agent shall make and deliver to the
owner a certificate of appraisal which may cover any number of
animals belonging to the same owner, showing the age and
description of each animal found to be infected or directly
exposed, the name and place of test, if any, the mark or brand as
tuberculous, and any other mark or brand which the animal may bear,
the date when and the place
to which where the animal
was sent for slaughter is to be euthanized by the veterinarian, the designation
of the officer who is to supervise the slaughter, the appraised
value of each animal, the name and address of the owner of the
animal and the fact that he
or she has executed the agreement as
provided in section twenty-eight of this article.
§19-9-32. Slaughter Euthanizing of diseased animals; supervision;
certificate of slaughter euthanizing.
After the agreement has been executed, appraisal made and
certificate thereof issued, the commissioner or his
or her agent
shall cause the animal to be
slaughtered euthanized and the carcass
disposed of in accordance with the meat inspection regulations of
the United States
bureau of animal industry Department of
Agriculture, or in such manner as the commissioner shall prescribe.
The officer supervising the
slaughter euthanizing shall,
immediately thereafter, indorse upon or add to the certificate of
appraisement appraisal provided
for in section thirty-one of this
article a certificate of
slaughter euthanizing stating that he
or
she has witnessed the
slaughter euthanizing of each of the animals,
the place and date thereof, that the number, age, description and
brand or mark correspond to those given in the certificate of
appraisal, the result of his
or her post-mortem examination, the
disposition made of the carcass and the
price received for the same
by amount paid to the veterinarian, which
price amount shall be
paid to the owner and credited on the amount of appraisal:
Provided, That in case animals are
slaughtered euthanized as
having
had tuberculous tuberculosis the appraisal certificate shall be
credited in the manner provided in section thirty-six of this
article.
The
slaughter euthanizing may be supervised and certificate
thereof may be made by the commissioner or any of his
or her agents
or any person possessing the authority of an agent or an officer of
the United States
bureau of animal industry Department of
Agriculture. The commissioner may require
such that other
particulars to requirements be added to either of
said the
certificates or the affidavits hereinafter required, and may make
and enforce
such rules
and regulations governing the handling,
shipping and
slaughter euthanizing of such animals, as may be
deemed necessary.
§19-9-33. Payment of indemnity.
All claims for indemnity for animals
slaughtered euthanized as
tuberculous shall be paid in the manner prescribed in section
thirty-seven of this article. In all other cases when animals are
slaughtered euthanized as provided by
the this article the
veterinarian shall forthwith forward the certificates of appraisal
and
slaughter euthanizing, together with the owner's claim for
indemnity, and his
or her affidavit that he
or she has, in all
respects, complied with the agreement provided
for in section
twenty-eight of this article and with the requirements of the commissioner in respect thereto, to the commissioner, who shall, if
the same is found to be correct and the claim not barred by the
provisions of section twenty-nine of this article, approve and file
the same. The commissioner shall, at the end of each fiscal year,
issue his
or her requisition to the State Auditor for two thirds of
the value of the certificates of appraisal so approved
: Provided,
That in case of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, or any other
dangerously contagious or infectious disease among bovine animals,
ovine animals, or swine, on account of which bovine animals, ovine
animals, or swine are being
destroyed euthanized by cooperative
order of federal and state authority, and for which animals
so
destroyed euthanized the federal government pays one half of the
indemnity herein provided for, this state shall pay one half, and
only one half, of such indemnity. The State Auditor shall issue
his
or her warrant on the State Treasurer, in favor of the
claimant, for the amount ordered by the commissioner, which amount
shall be paid out of the current appropriation made for carrying
out the provisions of this article:
Provided further, however,
That in case the amount of
such the certificates of appraisal, and
those similarly provided
for in section thirty-seven of this
article, in any one year, shall exceed the current appropriation
therefor,
such the certificates shall be paid pro rata at the end
of each fiscal year.
§19-9-34. Disposal of carcass of diseased animal.
Whenever it
shall be is necessary to destroy or dispose of the
carcass of any animal to prevent the spread of disease,
such the
destruction or disposal shall be made by one of the following
methods
designed to be protective of human health and the
environment. The methods include, but are not limited to the
following: (a) Complete cremation of the entire carcass with all
its parts and products; (b) boiling the carcass and all its parts
and products in water or heating the same with steam at the
temperature of boiling water, continuously during at least two
hours; (c)
burial disposing of the carcass and all its parts and
products in a
solid waste landfill permitted and approved by the
Department of Environmental Protection; and (d) burial of the
carcass and all its parts and products in a place that
shall will
not be subjected to overflow from ponds or streams, and which shall
be
distant a distance of not less than one hundred feet from any
watercourse, well, or spring, public highway, house or stable. In
burying
such the carcass it shall be covered with quicklime to a
depth of not less than three inches, and the top of such carcass
shall not be within two feet of the surface of the ground when the
grave is filled and smoothed to the level of the surrounding
surface;
(e) rendering by a licensed facility; and (f) composting.
Such grave shall be so protected that the carcass may not be
accessible to dogs or other animals Whenever any animal infected
with any communicable disease shall die or be
killed euthanized, it shall be the duty of the owner of
such the animal
at once to
destroy or dispose of the carcass of
such the animal in the manner
provided in this section. It shall be unlawful to sell any such
carcass or any part thereof or any hide or offal therefrom. If the
owner of such animal shall not within twenty-four hours dispose of
the carcass as provided by law, it shall be the duty of the
commissioner, or his
or her agent, to cause the
same carcass to be
destroyed or disposed of according to law, at the cost of
such the
owner. The expense of
such destruction or disposal may be
collected from
such the owner as debts of like amount are by law
collectible.
§19-9-34a. Authority of commissioner to promulgate rules
regulating disposal of dead
poultry animals.
Notwithstanding any other provision of the law
to the
contrary, the commissioner of agriculture is authorized to
promulgate rules to regulate the disposal of dead
poultry or other
domestic fowl animals by persons, firms or corporations engaged in
growing poultry or other domestic fowl for commercial purposes.
Said The rules shall encompass disposal methodologies of
composting, incineration and rendering and shall include emergency
situations of flock depopulation, abnormal death losses or serious
disease outbreak, all in accordance with the provisions of chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to update language
pertaining to indemnity for the death of diseased or infected
animals; deleting outdated amounts paid to appraisers and
arbitrators for services rendered; and disposing of dead
domesticated animals.
This bill is recommended for passage by the Interim Committee
on Agriculture and Agribusiness.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.