A. All livestock that has been confined to a truck for a continuous period of twenty-four hours without feed, rest and water shall be unloaded at the nearest licensed cattle or sheep rest station or other facility providing feed and water for livestock. The livestock shall receive adequate feed and water and a minimum of five hours rest before reloading.

B. A livestock inspector or other peace officer may require a person moving livestock within the state by truck to unload the livestock for feed, rest and water when the logbook of the operator indicates the livestock has been confined for twenty-four hours. If a livestock inspector determines a truck moving livestock to be unsafe or overloaded or if the conditions for the livestock are determined to be unsafe, the livestock inspector shall have the authority to remedy the situation.

C. All expenses incurred in compliance with this section are the responsibility of the livestock owner or his agent.

D. A person shall not dispose of carcasses along the public streets, roads or highways of this state. A person who violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978.

History: 1953 Comp., § 47-9-59, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 124, § 2; 1991, ch. 16, § 1; 1978 Comp., § 77-9-63, recompiled and amended as 1978 Comp., § 77-9A-5 by Laws 1999, ch. 282, § 70.

The 1999 amendment, effective July 1, 1999, recompiled this section which was formerly 77-9-63 NMSA 1978, added "dumping carcasses; penalty" to the section heading; in Subsection A, inserted "or sheep" following "cattle", and deleted the last sentence, which read "The loading and unloading of in-transit cattle shall be subject to the provisions of Section 77-9-58 NMSA 1978"; added Subsection D; and made stylistic changes throughout the section.

The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, substituted "twenty-four hours" for "thirty-six hours" in the first sentence in Subsections A and B; substituted "77-9-58 NMSA 1978" for "47-9-54 NMSA 1953" in the third sentence in Subsection A; added the second sentence in Subsection B; and made minor stylistic changes in Subsections A and B.