Domestic slaughter
If you want to slaughter pets or ungulates yourself at home, you must register this with the competent authority. Home slaughter is the slaughter of animals outside a commercial slaughterhouse. The production of meat for other persons is a commercial activity and may only be carried out in compliance with the standards of European and national food hygiene law. There are no legal hygiene regulations for home slaughter. They themselves decide on the cleanliness of their work.
Subject to official ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections in the case of domestic slaughter
- Cattle
- Pigs
- Sheep
- Enclosure game
- goats and other cloven-hoofed animals,
- horses and other equidae, provided that their meat is intended for human consumption.
Process flow
- They shall declare the animals intended for slaughter for slaughter. This is done by an official veterinarian who releases the healthy animal for slaughter.
- Subsequently, if you have knowledge, you may carry out the house slaughter or have it carried out by a service provider.
- After killing the animal, the official veterinarian looks at the meat and its organs.
- If there are no abnormalities, the meat is released for further processing.
- In the case of pigs and horses, trichinella examinations (nematodes) are also carried out afterwards. Only when the result of this examination is available can meat from animals of these species be released for further processing.
Who should I contact?
The responsibility lies with the district and the district-free city.
Requirements
- The use of meat obtained from home slaughter is allowed only for the pet owner's own household.
- Anyone who slaughters animals must have the necessary knowledge and skills to keep the suffering or pain of the animal to be slaughtered as low as possible
Which documents are required?
The notification of home slaughter must be made in writing and should contain the following information:
- When should the home slaughter take place?
- Which animal is slaughtered (animal species, ear tag if applicable)?
- How many animals are slaughtered?
What are the fees?
The fee is based on point VI.3.3.2 of the Schedule of Fees for Administration in the Field of Consumer Protection and Veterinary Affairs (GOVV)
What deadlines do I have to pay attention to?
Please inquire about deadlines that may have to be met at your local veterinary office
Legal basis
Technically approved by
Lower Saxony Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection
Professionally released on
30.01.2023
Author
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
