[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Lexington 2-23-1998 by Ord. No. 1998-3 (Ch. 14 of the 1998 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building codes — See Ch. 23.
Dogs and other animals — See Ch. 44.
Nuisances — See Ch. 124.
Solid waste — See Ch. 183.
Zoning — See Ch. 300.
No person shall operate, keep, or maintain a slaughterhouse, abattoir, or any other place where livestock or live animals of any kind, character, or description are killed or processed within the City of Lexington without first obtaining a license to do so from the City Council of the City of Lexington. The fee for said license shall be as set forth in Chapter 63, Fees, and shall be payable to the City Clerk on or before the last day of April each year. Upon approval by the City Council and upon payment of the license fee, the license shall be issued by the City Clerk.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
Any person desiring to operate a slaughterhouse, abattoir, or other place of killing or processing of animals shall make application for said license to the Mayor and City Council of the City of Lexington and shall submit with said application his plan for the building to be used in connection with said operation and a brief description of the type of operation which he/she proposes to have within the City of Lexington, and no license shall be granted to any person unless his plan meets the following minimum requirements:
A. 
The building in which said slaughterhouse, abattoir, or other processing plant is to be contained shall be located in an industrial zone at least 60 feet from the boundary line of any residential district.
B. 
The proposed building shall be of masonry construction with a cement floor under one roof and shall be well adapted for flushing out and cleaning said building. All flushing and cleansing water shall pass through two septic tanks before entering the City drain tile.
C. 
The establishment shall have no open holding pens, and all animals shall be received and held in a closed building. They shall not be held before killing for a longer period than 12 hours. All holding pens shall be under the same roof as the main processing plant and shall be a part of the same building and subject to the same minimum requirements.
D. 
The blood from the slaughter of animals shall be handled in a clean and sanitary manner, and under no circumstances shall said blood be dumped into the public drains nor onto the surface of the streets or lots surrounding the buildings used in connection with said business.
E. 
No livestock shall be held in the holding pen overnight, except in an emergency.
F. 
No accumulation of manure shall be allowed to stand on the premises.
G. 
No slaughtering operation shall be conducted on Sundays.
H. 
No slaughtering operations shall be conducted on a twenty-four-hour basis, and except for emergency situations, all the killing and dressing of animals shall be done between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Every person owning, leasing, or occupying any place, room or building where any animals have been or are killed or dressed, and every person owning, leasing, or occupying any room where any such animals may be kept, and having power and authority to do so, shall cause such place, room, building, and their appurtenances to be thoroughly cleaned and purified, and all offal, blood, fat, garbage, refuse and unwholesome or offensive matter to be removed therefrom at least once in every 24 hours, after the use thereof for any of the purposes herein referred to, and shall, also, at all times keep all woodwork, except floors and counters in any such building or place aforesaid, thoroughly painted or whitewashed.
No building occupied wholly or in part as a slaughterhouse shall be occupied as a dwelling or lodging place.
Every building used in whole or in part as a slaughterhouse or a place for slaughtering animals shall at all times be kept adequately and thoroughly ventilated; no blood shall be allowed to remain therein longer than 24 hours after the killing of the animal from which such blood came; the floors of such building on which the slaughtering is done shall be constructed so as not to absorb blood or any liquid matter, and shall be so arranged as to collect all liquid, and the same shall be disposed of so as not to become offensive.
No offal or butcher's refuse shall be conveyed through any street, alley, or other public place within said City between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., and no offal or refuse shall be conveyed at any time, unless the same be in tight boxes, barrels, or vessels from which no odor shall escape.
Any person, firm, or corporation who or which fails to comply with any of the provisions hereinbefore stated in the operation of a slaughterhouse, abattoir, or other place where animals are killed or processed shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined for each violation in an amount not to exceed $750. This penalty shall likewise attach to any future amendments to this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).