P.R. Laws tit. 5, § 732
Every animal brought or which arrives in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico which suffers from or is a carrier of, or has been exposed to, any infectious, contagious or transmissible disease, or that is infected by or has been exposed to internal or external parasites such as ticks, borers or others, shall be, at the option of the importer or owner, returned to its place of origin at the importer’s or owner’s expense or shall be destroyed and buried or incinerated at the expense of the owner thereof, under the supervision or official control of the Secretary of Agriculture or his authorized representative. Those animals which suffer or are carriers of, or have been exposed to, brucellosis are exempted from this provision. They may be slaughtered for human consumption under the supervision or the official control of the Secretary of Agriculture or his authorized representative. In the event the owner declines or refuses to return it to its point of origin, or to kill and bury or incinerate it, the employees of the Department of Agriculture are hereby authorized to destroy and bury or incinerate such animal, and the owner thereof shall reimburse the Department of Agriculture for expenses incurred in destroying the animal and disposing of the carcass. The Department of Agriculture shall not pay any compensation for any animal so destroyed under the provisions of this section.
History —June 18, 1957, No. 69, p. 161, § 3; May 22, 1959, No. 15, p. 72; May 1, 1973, No. 12, p. 48; June 8, 1979, No. 68, p. 140, § 2.