Section 30. Identification of livestock  


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  • A. All livestock, other than feeder cattle that are not of a dairy type, that are handled by or otherwise under the scope of business of each dealer and marketing facility shall be officially identified upon arrival at the marketing facility. For those livestock that are not identified upon arrival, each dealer and marketing facility shall cause official identification to be applied to any livestock handled by or otherwise under the scope of their business that is not already officially identified before leaving the marketing facility and may charge a fee for this service.

    B. Official identification.

    1. Official identification for cattle shall be an ear tag bearing a unique identification number issued by an official state or federal program or other form of identification approved by the State Veterinarian. For slaughter cattle only that are purchased by a registered dealer, a U.S. Department of Agriculture back tag shall also be considered official identification.

    2. Official identification for sheep and goats shall be any form of identification approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture scrapie eradication program or other form of identification approved by the State Veterinarian.

    3. Official identification for swine shall be a unique and permanent group or individual identification number issued by an official state or federal program and applied to each animal or other forms of identification approved by the State Veterinarian.

    4. Official identification for horses shall be a microchip, registration tattoo, brand, name, and complete physical description as listed or demonstrated by photographs on either a current certificate of veterinary inspection or Coggins test certificate, or other form of identification approved by the State Veterinarian.

    C. Official identification shall not be altered or removed.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 32, Issue 04, eff. November 19, 2015.

Statutory Authority

§§ 3.2-6001, 3.2-6002, and 3.2-6004 of the Code of Virginia.