An animal injured on a Friday afternoon is not fallen stock yet, and the paperwork you do in the next hour decides whether it can still go into the food chain. Here is what each route needs.
A casualty animal is a live animal known or suspected to be injured or abnormal. If it is fit to travel, ring the slaughterhouse first, then send it with a food chain information declaration completed by the owner. If an otherwise healthy animal cannot travel because of an accident, a vet must examine it before slaughter on farm, and the owner and vet complete a declaration that goes with the carcase. Cattle over 48 months need a BSE sample. An animal that dies or is killed other than for human consumption is fallen stock instead.
The three terms get used loosely, and the paperwork differs for each. Using the England trading standards guidance, a casualty animal is a live animal known or suspected to be injured or showing signs of abnormality. If fit to travel, it goes to a slaughterhouse with a food chain information declaration. Emergency slaughter is slaughter outside a licensed slaughterhouse of an otherwise healthy animal, fit for human consumption, that has had an accident and cannot be transported live for welfare reasons. The carcase then goes straight to a licensed slaughterhouse.
Fallen stock is the other side of the line. GOV.UK describes fallen stock as cattle whose death was not due to being slaughtered for human consumption. Those animals never enter the food chain. They follow the route in our fallen stock disposal rules guide.
So the first question on the yard is not what paperwork you need. It is whether this animal can still lawfully become food. It either travels live as a casualty, is slaughtered on farm under a vet's supervision, or becomes fallen stock. Your vet helps you decide.
GOV.UK's transport welfare guidance says to make sure the animals are fit to travel, and not to transport them in a way likely to cause injury or unnecessary suffering. The trading standards guide for England adds the working test: an animal is not fit if it is ill, injured, infirm or fatigued, unless the condition is only slight and the trip is not likely to cause unnecessary suffering.
One rule catches people loading a cow with a damaged leg. An animal must not be dragged, pushed or lifted by a mechanical device onto transport, except under direct veterinary supervision and only to reach the nearest place of veterinary treatment.
My advice is to decide early and ask the vet when unsure. The usual trap is loading an animal in the hope it will cope with a short run, then finding it cannot be accepted. If it is not fit to travel it must not be transported, and the emergency route is the only food chain option.
Ring the slaughterhouse first. It has no obligation to accept casualty animals, and the operator must arrange for an Official Veterinarian to be available for the examinations before and after slaughter. Then send the right documents with the animal.
The food chain information declaration is completed by the owner or person in charge. It identifies the animal, lists any veterinary medicines or other treatments given in the previous six months with dates and withdrawal periods, and declares the disease status of the holding. It is handed to the Official Veterinarian on arrival. Your medicine records are what let you fill it in properly, which is why our medicine book guide matters here.
| Animal | Also needs |
|---|---|
| Cattle | A valid passport, plus a copy of the kill sheet |
| Sheep and goats | A completed movement document (LIS-1 or an electronic copy in England) |
| Pigs | A haulier summary for pigs (eAML2 in England) |
Accepting the declaration does not guarantee the meat will pass: the Official Veterinarian can still find it unfit. Our livestock forms explained guide shows where each document is available.
On-farm emergency slaughter is narrower than people expect. Food Standards Scotland's slaughter guidance says only otherwise healthy animals that have suffered a recent accident that prevents transport to a slaughterhouse are eligible, and that animals which become lame over time are not. Confirm that with the vet first.
The England guide sets the steps. A vet examines the animal before slaughter, and the owner or agent and the vet complete an emergency slaughter declaration. Only the stomach and intestines may be removed at the point of slaughter, with the vet present, and the viscera travel with the carcase, identified as its own. If more than two hours are likely to pass before arrival, use a refrigerated vehicle or make sure the climatic conditions are appropriate.
The signed declaration is handed to the Official Veterinarian on arrival. Food Standards Scotland states that carcases without correct and complete veterinary certification will not be accepted. Fractious bovines need a different certificate, which only an FSA-approved vet can complete. Check with the slaughterhouse before the vet arrives, so nobody completes the wrong form in a wet field.
For cattle, often yes. The GOV.UK BSE guidance requires a test for cattle sent for emergency slaughter, or found sick on inspection after death, if they are older than 48 months and born in an EU country other than Romania and Bulgaria. The trading standards BSE guide gives the same 48 months for UK-born cattle. Cattle born in Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia or a non-EU country are tested at over 24 months.
On farm, the sample is part of the job. Bovines of the relevant ages need a brain stem sample, and without a suitable one the animal is ineligible for the food chain. Tell the vet the age before the slaughter. The passport decides the answer.
If the animal is fallen stock instead, the 24-hour collection clock applies and the owner pays for sampling. Our BSE testing for fallen cattle guide and the BSE eligibility checker work through the ages.
Four records matter.
Keep a copy of the food chain information, the declaration and the kill sheet with the animal's record. The GOV.UK death-reporting pages do not mention emergency slaughter, so confirm who reports the death with the slaughterhouse and BCMS. See our guides to reporting a cattle death and the medicine withdrawal periods cover the underlying rules.
Then it is fallen stock, and a different set of rules starts. You cannot bury or burn it on most holdings, so an approved operator collects it. A cattle death on the holding must be reported to BCMS, the passport returned and the register updated within 7 days. For a qualifying animal the BSE clock is tighter: contact a collector within 24 hours of the death.
Joining a scheme beforehand makes that call simpler: see National Fallen Stock Scheme cost.
FarmHQ, the farm office app for UK cattle and sheep farms, is in beta. It keeps treatments and withdrawal dates against each animal, so the declaration's information is on the phone, and you confirm what is drafted. This is not veterinary or legal advice. For Northern Ireland, check DAERA's guidance with your vet, as I could not verify it here.
A casualty animal is a live animal known or suspected to be injured or showing signs of abnormality. If it is fit to travel, it can go to a slaughterhouse with a food chain information declaration completed by the owner. The slaughterhouse need not accept it, so confirm beforehand.
Yes, in limited cases. The animal must be otherwise healthy, fit for human consumption, and have had an accident that prevents transport for welfare reasons. A vet examines it before slaughter, and the owner and vet complete a declaration. The carcase then goes directly to a licensed slaughterhouse.
Yes. Cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry and horses sent to slaughter need a completed declaration, and live casualties fit to travel are no exception. The owner or person in charge completes it, and it is handed to the Official Veterinarian on arrival.
Casualty and emergency slaughter aim to put an animal into the food chain, with veterinary inspection. Fallen stock is an animal whose death was not due to slaughter for human consumption. It goes to an approved collector, cannot normally be buried, and has its own reporting and BSE rules.
For cattle of the relevant age, yes. GOV.UK requires a test for cattle sent for emergency slaughter if they are older than 48 months, or older than 24 months if born in Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia or a non-EU country. Without a suitable sample the animal is ineligible for the food chain.