2001 Minnesota Statutes

     35.09 Inspection before killing; owner's indemnity. 

    Subdivision 1.    General rule.  Notwithstanding any 
 provision of this chapter to the contrary, cattle affected with 
 tuberculosis, paratuberculosis, or brucellosis may not be killed 
 for that reason until they have been inspected by a veterinarian 
 appointed by the board and are determined by the veterinarian to 
 have one of those diseases. 

    For each animal slaughtered because of tuberculosis, 
 paratuberculosis, or brucellosis, the value of the net salvage 
 of the carcass must be deducted from the appraised value of the 
 living animal.  Two-thirds of the remainder must be paid to the 
 owner by the state.  If the animal and plant health inspection 
 service of the United States Department of Agriculture 
 compensates the owner for the animal, in whole or in part, the 
 amount of the compensation received from the federal government 
 must be deducted from the amount of indemnity payable by the 
 state.  No payment may be more than $37.50 for grade animals or 
 more than $75 for a registered purebred animal, and no payment 
 may be made unless the owner has complied with all rules of the 
 board.  

    Subd. 2.    Exceptions.  The owner of an animal is 
 entitled to the indemnity provided in subdivision 1, except in 
 the following cases: 

    (1) steers; 

    (2) animals which have not been kept in good faith for one 
 year or since their birth in the state; 

    (3) animals brought into the state, contrary to law or 
 rules of the board; 

    (4) animals diseased on arrival in the state; 

    (5) animals belonging to the United States; 

    (6) animals belonging to institutions maintained by the 
 state, a county, or a municipality; 

    (7) animals which the owner or claimant knew or should have 
 known were diseased at the time they were acquired; 

    (8) animals exposed to brucellosis through the owner's 
 negligence; 

    (9) animals which have been injected with brucellosis 
 vaccine, bacterin, or other preparations made from or through 
 the agency of Brucella Microorganisms unless it was done in 
 compliance with the rules of the board; 

    (10) animals belonging to a person who has received 
 indemnity as a result of a former inspection or tests and has 
 then introduced into the same herd any animals which have not 
 passed the tuberculin or brucellosis test; 

    (11) animals if the owner, agent, or person in possession 
 of them has not complied with the rules of the board with 
 respect to condemned animals; 

    (12) condemned animals which are not destroyed within 15 
 days after the date of appraisal, or for which the owner refuses 
 to sign the appraisal or report of the members of the appraisal 
 board, except that in extraordinary circumstances and in 
 meritorious cases and at the discretion of the executive 
 director of the board the time limit of 15 days may be extended 
 an additional 15 days if the owner receives permission from the 
 executive director within 15 days of the date of appraisal; 

    (13) livestock affected with tuberculosis, 
 paratuberculosis, or brucellosis unless the entire herd of which 
 the affected livestock is a part, or from which the affected 
 livestock has originated, is examined and tested under the 
 supervision of the board, in order to determine if they are free 
 from the disease; 

    (14) livestock affected with tuberculosis, 
 paratuberculosis, or brucellosis unless the owner has carried 
 out the instructions of the board relating to cleaning, 
 disinfection, and rendering the stables and premises in a 
 sanitary condition within 15 days of the time of removal of the 
 animals from the premises, except when, because of inclement 
 weather or other extenuating circumstances, the time is extended 
 by the executive director of the board; 

    (15) livestock affected with tuberculosis, 
 paratuberculosis, or brucellosis, if the owner has fed milk or 
 milk products derived from creameries which was not pasteurized 
 as required by state laws; and 

    (16) animals owned by a nonresident if neither the owner 
 nor the owner's agent breed livestock in Minnesota.  

    If, at any time, the annual appropriation for payment of 
 indemnities becomes exhausted as a result of condemnation and 
 slaughter of animals, the board shall discontinue making further 
 official tests or authorizing tests unless an owner signs a 
 waiver on blanks furnished by the board of payment of indemnity 
 for any animals that may be condemned as the result of a test 
 and inspection which releases the state from any obligation to 
 pay indemnity from any future appropriation. 

    Subd. 2a.    Nonreactors; cattle ineligible for test.  
 The board may condemn and appraise nonreactors to the 
 brucellosis test and exposed cattle not eligible to be tested 
 from herds affected with brucellosis and may pay the owner the 
 difference between the appraisal value and the salvage value up 
 to $300 for grade animals or $600 for purebred registered 
 animals if the board through its executive director has 
 determined according to criteria adopted by the board that herd 
 depopulation is essential to the goal of bovine brucellosis 
 eradication.  Indemnity payable by the state must be reduced by 
 the amount paid by the United States Department of Agriculture.  
 No indemnity may be paid for steers. 

    Subd. 3.    Emergencies.  (a) When it is determined by 
 the board that it is necessary to eradicate any dangerous, 
 infectious, communicable disease among domestic animals in the 
 state, the presence of which constitutes an emergency declared 
 by resolution of the board, order of the governor, or by the 
 United States Department of Agriculture, the board may take 
 reasonable and necessary steps to suppress and eradicate the 
 disease.  The board may cooperate with the animal and plant 
 health inspection service of the United States Department of 
 Agriculture, federally recognized Indian tribes, state or local 
 government agencies, or any other private or public entity in 
 the suppression and eradication of the disease. 

    (b) When an emergency has been declared, the board may 
 appraise and destroy animals affected with, or which have been 
 exposed to the disease, or which are highly susceptible to 
 exposure to the disease because of proximity to diseased 
 animals, appraise and destroy personal property in order to 
 remove the infection and complete the cleaning and disinfection 
 of the premises, temporarily commandeer real property under 
 paragraph (c) for the purpose of disposing of animals, and do 
 any act and incur any other expense reasonably necessary to 
 suppress the disease.  

    (c) The governor, at the request of the board, may 
 temporarily commandeer agricultural or other suitable 
 nonresidential land under the provisions of chapter 12 to be 
 used for disposal of the destroyed animals when an emergency has 
 been declared by the governor under section 35.0661 and the 
 board determines that: 

    (1) the owner of destroyed animals lacks sufficient land to 
 properly dispose of the animals; 

    (2) the animals cannot be transported to other sites; 

    (3) no landowner within the appropriate area will consent 
 to voluntarily provide land for animal disposal; 

    (4) time pressures prevent formal condemnation procedures; 
 and 

    (5) other means of animal disposal are either impractical 
 or contrary to good disease control practices. 

 After the land has been used for animal disposal, possession 
 shall return to the owner or occupant.  Damages resulting from 
 the temporary taking shall be paid in the same amount and manner 
 as if the land had been temporarily condemned for other public 
 purposes. 

    (d) The board may accept, on behalf of the state, the rules 
 adopted by the animal and plant health inspection service of the 
 United States Department of Agriculture pertaining to the 
 disease, authorized under an act of Congress, or the portion of 
 the regulations deemed necessary, suitable, or applicable, and 
 cooperate with the animal and plant health inspection service of 
 the United States Department of Agriculture, in the enforcement 
 of those rules.  Alternatively, the board may follow the 
 procedure only as to quarantine, inspection, condemnation, 
 appraisal, compensation, destruction, burial of animals, 
 disinfection, or other acts the board considers reasonably 
 necessary for the suppression of the disease, as agreed upon and 
 adopted by the board and representatives or authorized agents of 
 the animal and plant health inspection service of the United 
 States Department of Agriculture.  

    (e) For the purpose of compensation under paragraph (f), 
 appraisals of animals or personal property destroyed in order to 
 remove the infection and complete the cleaning and disinfection 
 of premises where the animals are found, must be made by an 
 appraisal board consisting of a representative of the board, a 
 representative of the animal and plant health inspection service 
 of the United States Department of Agriculture, and the owner of 
 the animals or the owner's representative.  Notwithstanding any 
 law to the contrary, when, in the judgment of the board, 
 physical appraisal of the animals to be killed or personal 
 property to be destroyed poses a disease threat, appraisals may 
 be conducted after the animals are killed based on documents, 
 testimony, or other relevant evidence.  Appraisals must be in 
 writing and signed by the appraisers, and must be made at the 
 true market value of all animals and personal property 
 appraised, unless otherwise provided by applicable federal law 
 or regulation when compensation is paid by federal funds. 

    (f) Upon destruction of animals or personal property, or 
 temporary commandeering of real property, and burial or other 
 disposition of the carcasses of the animals in accordance with 
 the law and rules of the board and the animal and plant health 
 inspection service of the United States Department of 
 Agriculture, and the completion of the cleaning and disinfection 
 of the premises, the board shall certify the appraisal or the 
 condemnation award to the commissioner of finance, who shall 
 draw a warrant on the state treasurer for the proper amount 
 payable to the owner, excluding any compensation received by the 
 owner from other sources, from appropriations made available for 
 this purpose.  

    (g) No entity of any kind may begin or proceed with any 
 proceeding to collect a debt from the owner of animals or 
 personal property destroyed under this subdivision, until the 
 owner has received compensation under paragraph (d).  For 
 purposes of this paragraph, "proceeding to collect a debt" 
 includes foreclosure, repossession, garnishment, levy, contract 
 for deed cancellation, an action to obtain a court judgment, a 
 proceeding to collect real estate taxes or special assessments, 
 eviction, and any other in-court and out-of-court proceedings to 
 collect a debt.  The term does not include sending bills or 
 other routine communications to the owner.  If an entity refuses 
 to comply with this paragraph after being informed that the 
 owner qualifies for relief under this paragraph, the owner may 
 apply to the district court in the county in which the owner 
 resides for a court order directing the entity to comply with 
 this paragraph and to reimburse the owner for reasonable 
 attorney fees incurred in obtaining the court order.  This 
 paragraph does not affect the validity of a mortgage 
 foreclosure, contract for deed cancellation or other proceeding 
 involving the title to real property, unless the owner records 
 in the office of the county recorder, or files in the office of 
 the registrar of titles, prior to completion of the proceeding 
 to collect a debt, a certified copy of a court order, which 
 includes a legal description of the property, determining that 
 the owner qualifies for relief under this paragraph.  For 
 purposes of proceedings involving title to real property, the 
 court order must provide that it expires 90 days after the court 
 order was applied for, unless the court extends the court order 
 prior to that date for good cause shown.  A certified copy of 
 any extension of the court order must be recorded or filed in 
 order to affect the validity of a proceeding affecting the title 
 to real property.  For purposes of this paragraph, "completion 
 of a proceeding to collect a debt" means, in the case of a 
 mortgage foreclosure under chapter 580 or 581 or of a 
 foreclosure of any other lien on real property, the filing or 
 recording of the sheriff's certificate of sale; and, in the case 
 of a contract for deed cancellation under section 559.21, the 
 end of the cancellation period provided in that section. 

    HIST: (5403) RL s 2161; 1921 c 485 s 2; 1923 c 319 s 1; 1925 c 
 230 s 2; 1939 c 171 s 2; 1941 c 67 s 1; 1945 c 328 s 2; 1953 c 
 223 s 1; 1965 c 472 s 2,3; 1973 c 492 s 14; 1976 c 227 s 1,2; 
 1980 c 467 s 10; 1985 c 248 s 10; 1985 c 265 art 1 s 1; art 12 s 
 1; 1999 c 231 s 73,74; 2001 c 192 s 3 

*   NOTE:  The amendment to subdivision 3 by Laws 2001, chapter 
*192, section 3, expires July 31, 2003, and the subdivision as it 
*read prior to that amendment is revived and includes any 
*subsequent enactments.  Laws 2001, chapter 192, section 4.