Fleischgewinnung: Schlachttier- und Fleischuntersuchung

If you commercially slaughter animals whose meat is intended for human consumption, you must have the animals officially inspected before and after slaughter. This applies to:

• Cattle,
• pigs,
• sheep,
• goats,
• horses and other ungulates,
• poultry,
• lagomorphs and
• farmed game.

The inspection requirement also applies to domestic slaughter.

The fee depends on the type of animal, the number of animals to be examined and the effort involved. It amounts to between 5.00 and 53.00 euros for individual animal slaughterings (as of 18.11.2009).

Domestic slaughtering for exclusively own, private domestic needs must be announced to the Veterinary and Food Control Office in due time (it should be at least 2 working days) before the planned slaughtering. The announcement of the responsible official veterinarians or specialized assistants is made by the district offices or municipal administrations.

In the case of emergency slaughtering, a veterinarian must be called in immediately to examine the injured animal before it is slaughtered. The Veterinary and Food Control Office must then be involved immediately.

Commercial slaughtering may (as of 1.1.2010) only be carried out in establishments officially approved for this purpose.
In the case of poultry and lagomorphs, there are exceptions for self-slaughtering production companies based on the number of animals slaughtered per year, which must be obtained from the competent authority.

Contact the veterinary and food control office of the county or city in whose jurisdiction the slaughter is to take place.