Farm Sanctuary Inc. v. Dept. of Food and Agriculture

In 1967, the California Legislature enacted the Humane Slaughter Law (HSL), which governs the methods by which certain animals can be slaughtered. (Stats. 1967, ch. 1381, § 1, pp. 3240-3241, codified as Food & Agr. Code, §§ 19501-19503.) In 1991, the Legislature amended the law to include poultry and authorized the Department of Food and Agriculture to issue regulations concerning the slaughter of poultry. (Stats. 1991, ch. 837, §§ 1-2, pp. 3716-3717, amending Food & Agr. Code, § 19501 and adding Food & Agr. Code, § 19501.5.)

In its regulations, the department approved several specific methods for slaughtering poultry, including methods for “ritualistic slaughter.” (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 3, §§ 1245.4, 1245.16.) The regulations also authorize the chief of the department’s meat and poultry inspection branch to approve other methods of ritualistic slaughter. (Id., § 1245.16, subd. (b), formerly subd. (c).)

Farm Sanctuary, Inc., a nonprofit organization that promotes the humane treatment of farm animals, filed this declaratory relief action, alleging that the ritualistic slaughter regulation authorizes the inhumane slaughtering of poultry and is therefore inconsistent with…