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Twenty-Eight Hour Law

This federal law addresses the transportation of animals across state lines within the U.S. Originally enacted in 1873 to protect cattle that were shipped in rail cars, it was codified in Title 49 of the U.S. Code which is dedicated to transportation and generally requires that animals transported by rail carrier, express carrier or common carrier (amended to include “vehicle”) cannot be kept for more than 28 consecutive hours without being unloaded for rest, water and food for a period of five hours.[1] In 2006, the USDA clarified that the term “vehicle” does apply to trucks.[2] The law is not applicable to animals transported in a vehicle in which they have food, water, space, and an opportunity for rest.

The export of live animals requires adherence to the import country’s laws and regulations.[3]

 

  1. Twenty-Eight Hour Law, 49 USC §80502 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2008-title49/pdf/USCODE-2008-title49-subtitleX-chap805-sec80502.pdf
  2. American Assoc. of Swine Veterinarians (2006) USDA Concedes the 28-Hour Law Applies to Trucks.
  3. USDA, Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (2024) Live Animal Exports. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/live-animal-export

The statute uses the term animals. However, in its enforcement regulations, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which has regulatory authority over the law, references only livestock, i.e., cows, sheep, pigs, goats, and horses.[1,2]

 

  1. USDA Office of the Secretary of Agriculture (2010), Delegations of Authority, 7 CFR § 2.80(a)(8)
  2. USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (1963) Statement of Policy Under the Twenty-Eight Hour Law. 9 CFR §§ 89.1-89.5 

Poultry are not covered. They were most likely excluded because at the time of passage in 1873, selling and transporting poultry products outside the family farm was uncommon. Indeed, the sale of broiler chickens raised specifically for their meat only began in the 1920’s, and even at the end of WWII, poultry production was still largely a farm sideline.[1,2]

Neither the statute nor its enacted regulations has been amended to reference any animal other than livestock, and the USDA has confirmed its position that the statute does not apply to birds. The only court addressing the issue stated in a decision issued nearly a hundred years ago, “its provisions are confined to the transportation of animals in these words: ‘cattle, sheep, swine or other animals.’ It does not apply to poultry; birds are not animals.”[3]

 

  1. National Chicken Council, Industry History. https://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/industry/history/ 
  2. Schurr, S. et al., (1990) Electricity in the American Economy: Agent of Technological Progress, Greenwood Press, New York, NY, p. 244.
  3. Wagman, B.A. et al., (2019) Animal Law: Cases and Material, Sixth Ed., Carolina Academic Press, p. 486, citing Clay v New York Cent. R.R. Co., 231 N.Y.S. 424, 424 (N.Y. App. Div. 1928).

The law itself does not specify which agency has regulatory authority. The statute does provide for civil penalties should the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) learn of a knowing and willful violation. The law was enacted under Title 49 of the U.S. Code which is dedicated to transportation.[1] Yet neither the DOJ nor the Dept. of Transportation sets out regulations to assist with the enforcement of the law. It wasn’t until 1963 that the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) codified its Statement of Policy under the Twenty-Eight Hour Law into federal regulations, demonstrating its authority over enforcement of the law.[2,3]

In 2010, the USDA directed that slaughterhouse inspectors take on a role, advising them to contact the Investigative and Enforcement Services of APHIS when witnessing livestock arriving at the slaughter plant that appear exhausted or dehydrated.[4]

 

  1. Twenty-Eight Hour Law, 49 USC § 80502(d) 
  2. Animal Welfare Institute (2020) A Review: The Twenty-Eight Hour Law and Its Enforcement, p. 2.  https://awionline.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/20TwentyEightHourLawReport.pdf
  3. USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (1963) Statement of Policy Under the Twenty-Eight Hour Law, 9 CFR Part 89
  4. USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (2011) Humane Handling and Slaughter of Livestock, Directive 6900.2 Rev. 2. 

According to recent studies, federal enforcement of the law has been scant and prosecutions non-existent.

In 2005, a group of animal welfare organizations, in preparing a petition to the USDA, found that there had been no reported federal cases enforcing the law going back to 1960.[1]

Subsequently, the Animal Welfare Institute, which has been investigating enforcement of the law for several years, determined that the USDA conducted a total of 11 investigations from 2006-2019. Only one of the violations was referred to the Department of Justice for further action. And in that case, the outcome was a warning letter sent by the USDA to the carrier. “The fact that in a 12-year period only 11 investigations occurred demonstrates an inadequate monitoring system in place to detect violations. Without a mechanism under the auspices of either the USDA or the DOJ for monitoring truck transport, there is, for all intents and purposes, no federal transport law in the United States.”[2]

Should a violation be found, the penalties are minimal. The carrier or owner of a truck who knowingly and willfully violates the law is liable for a civil penalty of at least $100 but not more than $500 for each violation.[3]

 

  1. Animal Welfare Institute (2021) Legal Protections for Farm Animals During Transport, p. 4. 
  2. Animal Welfare Institute (2021) Legal Protections, p. 4.
  3. Twenty-Eight Hour Law, 49 USC §80502(d)

Approximately 35 states include animal transport in their anti-cruelty statutes. In almost all cases, the applicable provisions prohibit the transport of animals in a “cruel” or “inhumane manner,” or one that “jeopardizes the safety of the animal.”[1,2]

A few states have regulations that limit the transport of nonambulatory animals.  But “For the most part, time limits for feed, water, and rest under the state statutes mirror the federal Twenty-Eight Hour Law…”[3] 

 

  1. Animal Welfare Institute (2021) Legal Protections for Farm Animals During Transport, p. 6.
  2. The National Agricultural Law Center (updated 11/2024) States’ Animal Cruelty Statutes, https://nationalaglawcenter.org/state-compilations/animal-cruelty/
  3. Legal Protections for Farm Animals During Transport, p. 6.

There are 4 exceptions for domestic transport:

 Sheep may be confined for an additional eight hours when the twenty-eight-hour period ends at night.
 Animals may be confined for more than twenty-eight hours when there is an accident or unavoidable circumstances.
 Animals may be confined for thirty-six consecutive hours when the owner or custodian requests in writing (separate from a bill of lading) that the period be extended.
 If animals have the opportunity to rest, water, and eat and have space in the carrier, they do not need to be unloaded.[1]

Livestock imported into the U.S. are subject to the export country’s laws and regulations concerning transport.[2] For instance, Canada’s regulations govern the transport of livestock into the U.S. for slaughter.[3] These regulations would generally prohibit transport of sick, disabled, or otherwise unfit animals.[4] 

 

  1. Twenty-Eight Hour Law, 49 USC §80502(a)(c)
  2. Duval, E., et al., (2024). Are regulations addressing farm animal welfare issues during live transportation fit for purpose? A multi-country jurisdictional check. Royal Society Open Science, 11(1), 231072–19, Supplementary material.
  3. Canadian Food & Inspection Agency (2022) Humane transport overview. https://inspection.canada.ca/en/animal-health/terrestrial-animals/humane-transport/humane-transport-overview
  4. Duval, E., et al., (2024). Supplementary material, Table S2.

In a recent survey of regulations in the U.S., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the EU, it was shown that the U.S. provides the least protection, by far, for farmed animals during domestic transport. The authors identified 17 regulations that address animal welfare during transport, including transport of unfit animals (e.g., young age, advanced pregnancy, the presence of one or more health issues) temperature and space conditions, and maximum journey durations. Of all the countries surveyed, the U.S. meets only one element, that of maximum intervals without food, water and rest – and then, only in some cases.[1]

 

  1. Duval, E., et al., (2024). Are regulations addressing farm animal welfare issues during live transportation fit for purpose? A multi-country jurisdictional check. Royal Society Open Science, 11(1), 231072–19, p. 5. [“The federal legislation in the USA, adopted in 1873, does not include regulations on fitness for domestic transport apart from a ban on the slaughter of non-ambulatory cattle. The USA does, however, have some limited requirements on fitness for transport in regulations governing live animal exportation. In contrast, the other four jurisdictions have all adopted more comprehensive regulations and generally prohibit the transportation of unfit animals.”]

Laws & Regulations