State and Provincial Codes for Selling Rabbit Meat

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I was paid by a restaurant to "raise rabbits for them" so they were their rabbits, and I was their employee, they then paid me to butcher their rabbits, and they then put them on the menu. It got them around some law [I am not familliar with] in Utah.
 
WA

WSDA handbook

page 8 talks about rabbits
Ratites and Rabbits
Large birds such as ostrich, emu, and rhea (ratites) can be processed in USDA inspected facilities or facilities that
are licensed by WSDA as a Food Processor. Processors licensed by WSDA as a Food Processor may slaughter
19,999 or less large birds per year. These processors must apply to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
for exemption from inspection. Each bird or package for sale must be marked or tagged, “Exempted under PL 90-
492” and include the name and address of the processor. For more information, please contact the WSDA Food
Safety Program.
Rabbits are also allowed to be processed with a WSDA Food Processor License. There is no limit to the number of
rabbits that can be processed with this License.


http://agr.wa.gov/marketing/smallfarm/D ... ations.pdf
 
Kansas:

http://agriculture.ks.gov/docs/default- ... f?sfvrsn=0

Exempt Rabbit Slaughter and Processing Guidelines

Is rabbit considered meat? Yes. The definition of meat food product in the Kansas Meat and Poultry Inspection Act includes domestic rabbits.

Can I slaughter and process some rabbits without inspection? Yes. K.A.R. 4-16-3a(d) allows a person to slaughter or process 250 or less in a calendar year without inspection. The following requirements must be met to qualify for this exemption:

Registration: There is no requirement to register with the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Meat & Poultry Inspection Program under this exemption. The department will inspect these operations on a complaint basis.

Business operations: You do not engage in the business of buying and selling any rabbits or rabbit products capable of use as human food in a calendar year. Therefore, the rabbits must be raised by you.

Sale of rabbit meat: Rabbits are for distribution directly to the household consumer from that person’s own premises. If you maintain control of the meat products, you can deliver the meat products directly to household consumers from your premises.

Healthy rabbits: Only healthy rabbits may be slaughtered to preclude adulteration of the finished product.

Sanitation and adulteration: Sanitation and adulteration requirements of the Kansas Meat and Poultry Inspection Act apply to the slaughter and processing of rabbits under this exemption. The applicable regulations can be found here.

Sanitation: Sanitation is found specifically in 9 CFR 354.210 through 354.248, and can be accessed through the link above. This includes maintaining proper temperatures in freezers or coolers. If you freeze the meat products, keep the product solidly frozen. If the meat is fresh, you should hold it at a temperature not to exceed 36° F. (9 CFR 354.244(d))

Adulteration: Adulteration includes rabbits:
◾that contain any substance that might make it injurious to health,
◾that have been fed or injected with a poisonous substance,
◾that consist of any filthy, or decomposed substance, or is otherwise unwholesome,
◾that have been prepared or held under insanitary conditions that may contaminate the meat product,
◾that die other than by slaughter, or
◾that are put in containers that are composed of any poisonous substance that may render the rabbit injurious to health.

If your operation does not meet the exemption requirements, you should contact our office to discuss the requirements for inspection.
 
wsmoak":1lshh8lj said:
Someone in another thread wanted information on Pennsylvania and I found this:

Farmer's Guide to Processing and Selling Meat or Poultry
http://extension.psu.edu/food-safety/en ... ultry/view

(Which doesn't say much about rabbits but does have a list of contact info.)

-Wendy

__________ Mon Sep 03, 2012 10:13 am __________

GEORGIA

I found this on the Georgia Agriculture Department's website:
http://agr.georgia.gov/Data/Sites/1/med ... e40101.pdf

There _appears_ to be an exemption for inspection for rabbits:

Page 7-8

40-10-1-.04 Exemptions. Amended.
1) Exemptions:
a) The requirements of the Act and the regulations in this chapter for inspection of the preparation of products do not apply to:
[...]
3. The slaughter and processing of rabbits by any person who raises rabbits for slaughter and processing for sale at wholesale and retail in numbers not to exceed 2500 rabbits per year.

Interesting!

-Wendy

I just wanted to clarify this for Georgia- it looks like the provision above is only for rabbits that are for personal use- ie not for sale and must be packaged that way (literally with "not for sale" written on the package). Unless I am reading it wrong, if someone in Georgia wants to sell meat rabbits, it still looks like it would need to be handled by a USDA inspected/licensed facility. The most recent meat rabbit stuff I could find for the state was almost 11 years ago, so still not a popular item on the menu here by any long stretch of the imagination. Out of curiosity, I was trying to research how small meat producers could start producing (legally) on a larger scale, but it seems to require quite a bit of hoop-jumping and money. Interesting!
 
This topic slipped my mind all together. :oops: I wounder what it is in Missouri? Been looking but getting no where.

__________ Tue Jan 06, 2015 2:14 pm __________

Did find this. But much help.
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsi ... e/ct_index

Did find this as well.
http://agriculture.mo.gov/animals/health/inspections/
But MO doesn't really have any laws or regulations regarding rabbits. But if you sell large sums of live rabbit to a pet store you can be hit with a $90k fine (http://dailycaller.com/2011/05/24/usda- ... a-license/). The laws are there but they are buried.
 
wamplercathy":3nqdaf11 said:
Been looking but getting no where.

Contact your county Agricultural Extension office- they should be able to find the info you need, although it may take them a bit of researching to do so. That's what I did when I wanted to start selling processed rabbits for human consumption.
 
Just got a call from the Agr rep for Andrew county Missouri and this is the info I was given:

Selling dressed rabbit:
Up to 1000 can be sold without inspection per calendar year, but have to keep track of who you sell to.

Sell of live:
Live no limit.
To pet store, it depends on the store and/or the City.

If wanting to sell at a farmers market, then you need to check with them before heading out. All differ in their regulation.
 
Liv Jo Ana":3k35aqpv said:
I am new to this and we are building our herd. Does anyone know what the regulations are for Kentucky? Thanks!

I advice calling the agriculture personnel for your county/State. That was the easiest way for me to find the needed information. He e-mailed me the PDFs of the documents and the websites.
 
wamplercathy":3s0quu89 said:
This topic slipped my mind all together. :oops: I wounder what it is in Missouri? Been looking but getting no where.

__________ Tue Jan 06, 2015 2:14 pm __________

Did find this. But much help.
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/meat-preparation/rabbit-from-farm-to-table/ct_index

Did find this as well.
http://agriculture.mo.gov/animals/health/inspections/
But MO doesn't really have any laws or regulations regarding rabbits. But if you sell large sums of live rabbit to a pet store you can be hit with a $90k fine (http://dailycaller.com/2011/05/24/usda-fines-missouri-family-90k-for-selling-a-few-rabbits-without-a-license/). The laws are there but they are buried.


Missouri does have laws regarding Rabbit Meat Sales, and I saw where you had talked to an Official on it. But here is a link to a PDF file for you to have on hand.
https://www.sos.mo.gov/adrules/csr/current/2csr/2c30-10.pdf

Hope that helps. :)
 
TopRabbit":rzfjp2nx said:
wamplercathy":rzfjp2nx said:
This topic slipped my mind all together. :oops: I wounder what it is in Missouri? Been looking but getting no where.

__________ Tue Jan 06, 2015 2:14 pm __________

Did find this. But much help.
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsi ... e/ct_index

Did find this as well.
http://agriculture.mo.gov/animals/health/inspections/
But MO doesn't really have any laws or regulations regarding rabbits. But if you sell large sums of live rabbit to a pet store you can be hit with a $90k fine (http://dailycaller.com/2011/05/24/usda- ... a-license/). The laws are there but they are buried.


Missouri does have laws regarding Rabbit Meat Sales, and I saw where you had talked to an Official on it. But here is a link to a PDF file for you to have on hand.
https://www.sos.mo.gov/adrules/csr/curr ... c30-10.pdf

Hope that helps. :)

Thanks I have the pdf saved to my computer. The agg guy I talked to sent it to me along with a couple of others. Sometimes a phone call is quicker then a web search. :p :lol: :lol:
 
I just got off the phone with an inspector guy here in California and it is legal to slaughter and sell up to 5,000 chickens and/or rabbits a year straight to the consumer.

No selling to restaurants, markets or anything like that. After that you need some inspection and stuff. Don't plan on going past that.

Having a hard time finding the paper work. I don't know why I didnt ask the inspector man for some. When I eventually call him back I will.
 

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