This mode of transportation was attended with 

 much cruelty. As reported from several 

 sources in 1871 : "Cars are terribly over- 

 crowded, and animals are carried great dis- 

 tances without food or water." . . . "Cattle 

 trains yield the road to most others, and pass 

 hours on sidings ; the animals are without food 

 or water, and often with insufficient ventila- 

 tion in summer or shelter in winter; they are 

 jolted off their legs and then goaded till they 

 struggle up, for they cannot be permitted to lie 

 down ; they thus arrive at destination trampled 

 upon, torn by each others' horns, bruised, 

 bleeding; having in fact suffered all that ani- 

 mals can suffer and live. The whole system of 

 cattle transportation in the United States as at 

 present conducted is an outrage on the first 

 principles of humanity." 



A monotonously deadening repetition of 

 these practices and a mounting public clamor 

 culminated in the Act of June 29, 1906. This is 

 essentially a law to prevent cruelty to animals 

 while in transit interstate. It prohibits the 

 confinement of animals m a car for a period 

 longer than 28 consecutive hours without un- 

 loading them in a humane manner into prop- 

 erly equipped pens for rest, water, and feeding 

 for a period of at least 5 hours. In some in- 

 stances animals may be fed and watered with- 

 out unloading them into pens, provided ade- 

 quate space is available for rest in the cars. 

 And in some cases written request, accidental 

 causes, or acts of nature, which cannot be an- 

 ticipated or avoided by the exercise of due dili- 

 gence and foresight, may excuse continuous 

 confinement for 36 hours or longer. Although 

 the law is applicable only to railroad and wa- 

 ter shipments, attempts have been made to ap- 

 ply its humane principles to motortruck ship- 

 ments as well. 



The 28-Hour Law does not provide for the 

 issuance of regulations ; thus, its administra- 

 tion is governed by the language of the law 

 itself and Court decisions subsequently ren- 

 dered. 



Enforcement of the overconfinement provi- 

 sions of the 28-Hour Law is performed by ex- 

 amination of records maintained by the car- 

 riers (waybills and similar documents). Peri- 

 odic inspections are made at the more than 

 800 feed, water, and rest stations throughout 

 the United States to insure that the facilities 



BN-77S4-X 



Hogs being reloaded after a period for feed, water, 

 and rest, in compliance with the 28-hour law. 



and equipment are adequate and properly 

 maintained. Railroads operating such facili- 

 ties are promptly notified to correct unsatis- 

 factory conditions. Apparent violations of the 

 28-Hour Law are reported to the Department 

 for further inve.stigation and possible prose- 

 cution. 



In 1960, 482 reports were received of alleged 

 violations of the 28-Hour Law. Prosecution was 

 recommended in 252 cases. During this period 

 reports were received on 176 prosecutions in 

 which penalties of $18,450 and costs were im- 

 posed. 



Interstate Regulations was also instrumental 

 in developing and distributing the following 

 publications : 



(1) ARS 91-13, "A Guide for the Enforce- 

 ment of Regulations Governing the Interstate 

 Movement of Livestock and Poultry." This 

 comprehensive manual was issued as a source 

 of information to field representatives and as a 

 guide to uniform procedures to be used in in- 

 vestigating and reporting apparent violations 

 of the 28-Hour Law and the Animal Quaran- 

 tine Laws. 



(2) "Regulations and Laws Administered 

 by the Animal Disease Eradication Division." 

 This publication contains a reprint of subchap- 

 ters B and C of chapter 1, title 9, Code of Fed- 

 eral Regulations, and also certain Acts of Con- 

 gress that are the basic laws upon which the 

 rules and regulations of the Animal Disease 

 Eradication Division are based. 



(3) ARS 91-17, "Health Requirements and 

 Regulations Governing the Interstate and In- 



46 



