Full Statute Name:  Official Mexican Law Nom-033-Zoo-1995, Humane Killing of Domestic and Wild Animals

Summary: This law regulates the humane slaughter or anesthesia of farm, domestic, and wildlife animals. It contains detailed guidelines about methods allowed depending on the species and how to handle animals prior to slaughter or euthanasia procedures. For instance, this law mandates that all farm animals and wild animals slaughtered for human consumption are stunned, while companion animals must be sedated before euthanasia. It also contains provisions on emergency killing protocols for all species. Some prohibited methods include the use of substances that induce muscular paralysis without causing loss of consciousness and that cause death by suffocation, and the use of potassium chloride in any form to cause the death of animals since its administration causes severe pain and anxiety, followed by diastolic cardiac arrest in the conscious individual. However, its use is allowed on mega vertebrates, as long as the animal is under anesthesia and a veterinarian verifies this. Inducing hypothermia or using electricity for stunning, anesthesia, killing, and euthanasia of all reptiles is also prohibited. In addition, it is prohibited to kill rodents, lagomorphs, and small mammals by hypothermia and/or freezing, chest compression, strangulation, drowning, or other mechanical suffocation methods. Finally, it is prohibited to use trapping methods to kill wildlife.