Jalisco farmed animal cruelty law
Law & Regulation
In Effect
April 1, 2019
Summary
In April 2019, the Congress of the State of Jalisco approved a reform of the Jalisco Penal Code — the “Jalisco Sin Crueldad” initiative, presented by Deputy Salvador Caro Cabrera with support from Animal Equality — to include farmed animals within the state’s criminal offences for cruelty and slaughter-related abuses. The reform creates new criminal offences for defined cruelty acts, including deprivation of basic needs such as food, water, and veterinary care, and for slaughterhouse conduct that fails to use officially mandated stunning methods, while retaining existing exceptions for activities such as regulated slaughter, hunting, and bullfighting. The Penal Code’s cruelty provisions cover mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.
Background Context
Before the 2019 reform, animal cruelty was regulated in the Jalisco Penal Code but did not expressly include farmed animals for food within its protective scope; criminal mechanisms to prosecute cruelty inside farms and slaughterhouses were absent despite existing regulations requiring stunning and prohibiting extreme cruelty.
Animal Equality (Igualdad Animal México), led by Executive Director Dulce Ramírez, conducted the 2016–2017 multi-state slaughterhouse investigation that generated the documentary evidence underlying the “Jalisco Sin Crueldad” campaign. The reform builds on the existing Ley de Protección a los Animales para el Estado de Jalisco and on federal Normas Oficiales Mexicanas governing slaughter methods, explicitly tying Penal Code criminal liability in Article 306 Bis to non-compliance with those federal technical standards.
System Impact
System Scale Direction
Neutral / Administrative
Type
Alters Legal Basis
Significance
Moderate
The Ministerio Público holds enforcement responsibility under Article 307, including seizure of instruments, effects, objects, or products of the offence. A 2024 legislative decree (29576/LXIII/24) increased general cruelty penalties under Articles 305 and 306 and abrogated the final paragraph of Article 306, without modifying Article 306 Bis on slaughter methods; a separate 2024 initiative by Deputy Alejandra Margarita Giadans Valenzuela sought to reintroduce that paragraph as an aggravating factor for torture or extreme brutality.
Media coverage in 2023–2024 confirms the broader Title Vigésimo Cuarto cruelty framework applies to “cualquier animal sea doméstico o silvestre” with tightened penalty ranges, but does not report changes to the slaughter-specific provisions. No sources document court decisions invalidating or suspending Article 306 Bis.
Anticipated Effects
If Article 306 Bis is consistently enforced, adherence to Normas Oficiales on pre-slaughter stunning and rapid induction to unconsciousness would become a factor in criminal liability for slaughterhouse operators and staff in Jalisco, potentially affecting equipment investment, training, and supervision practices.
If the professional disqualification and license revocation mechanisms are applied where violations are proven, individuals and facilities found in violation would face restricted employment or authorisation for specified periods, or indefinitely in cases of recidivism.
Whether the reform has produced measurable changes in stunning compliance rates, prosecution numbers, or the prevalence of clandestine or non-compliant slaughter practices in Jalisco since 2019 is not established in available sources.
Significance Rationale
The reform applies statewide within Jalisco — one of Mexico’s states, not a national measure — covering farmed mammals, birds, and other vertebrate species across the state’s farmed-animal and slaughter system, with an NGO estimate of over 200 million animals per year potentially within scope, the largest quantified population figure among ASI’s Mexico Development records. This regional scope, covering a substantial multi-species population within Jalisco’s farmed-animal and slaughter system, supports Moderate significance rather than Low; it does not reach High because the reform’s documented effect is confined to that single state, consistent with the Moderate calibration applied to Mexico’s Hidalgo reform, which addressed a comparable state-level scope.
Within The System
Key Actors
The Congreso del Estado de Jalisco approved the reform. Deputy Salvador Caro Cabrera formally presented the “Jalisco Sin Crueldad” initiative. Animal Equality (Igualdad Animal México), led by Executive Director Dulce Ramírez, conducted the underlying investigations and campaigned for the reform. The Ministerio Público holds primary enforcement responsibility under Article 307. Administrative authorities issue and revoke slaughter facility licenses and permits under Article 306 Bis. Rastros, unidades de sacrificio, and other slaughter establishments in Jalisco are the directly regulated industry actors.
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