Home slaughtering is slaughtering outside approved slaughterhouses, whereby the meat - fresh or processed - may only be used in the household of the person owning the slaughtered animal. It is not permitted to sell the meat to persons outside the household. Home slaughtering also includes slaughtering outside approved establishments that is carried out in specially prepared rooms used by the person owning the slaughtered animal, for example those of the person carrying out the slaughter.
Meat production for other persons is a commercial activity in terms of food law and may only be carried out in approved slaughterhouses in compliance with other provisions of European and national food and meat hygiene law.
Animals must be spared any avoidable pain, stress and suffering during slaughter - including domestic slaughter. Animals are therefore only killed or slaughtered after being stunned to ensure that they remain unconscious and insensible until death.
Persons who stun and kill their own animals for domestic slaughter must have the necessary knowledge and skills [expertise]. This includes, in particular, the expertise to carry out the legally prescribed stunning method, depending on the animal species, to assess the success of the stunning, the immediate subsequent killing and the determination of death.

If the domestic slaughter is carried out by a person providing the service [not the person owning the animal for slaughter], the slaughtering person must be able to present a certificate of competence. Further information on this can be obtained from the local veterinary and food inspection office of the district or city.

Certain official inspections are required for home slaughtering. Therefore, every planned home slaughter must be registered by the animal owner with the local veterinary and food inspection office of the district or city. The official inspections serve to ensure food safety and consumer protection. The inspection obligations for domestic slaughter apply to cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and other cloven-hoofed animals [including farmed game] as well as horses and other solipeds whose meat is intended for human consumption.

The official ante-mortem inspection [examination of the live animal] is only mandatory for animals that show an impaired general condition before slaughter.

Every slaughtered animal is subject to an official post-mortem inspection [examination of the carcass, organs and blood].

The official examination for trichinella is mandatory for domestic pigs, solipeds and wild boars kept as farmed game.

After the official meat inspection, the animal by-products (ABP) must be disposed of properly. The ABP include, among other things Slaughterhouse waste and - in particular - specified risk material [SRM] from cattle, sheep and goats. The specified risk material must be dyed by the official veterinarians or official specialist assistants. Disposal via household waste or burial is not permitted. The disposal routes for ABP are specified by law. Specified risk material [category 1 material] and category 2 material [e.g. carcasses that were found to be harmful to health during the official post-mortem inspection] can only be disposed of via the rendering plant. Other slaughterhouse waste, unfit carcasses or parts of carcasses [category 3 material] must also be registered with an approved disposal company in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 1069/2009 and collected. The locally responsible veterinary and food monitoring office of the district or city can provide information on this.