2,568. “Deficient” vs. “Removed”

Hilchos Shechita 8:23

If the upper jaw is removed, the animal is a treifa, but if the lower jaw is removed – by which we mean severed until the esophagus and the trachea, but these pipes weren’t pulled out – then the animal remains permitted.

Hilchos Shechita 8:24

Whenever we say that a missing limb or organ makes an animal a treifa, the same is true if that organ is removed. However, when we say that an animal’s a treifa if an organ was removed, it’s not prohibited unless that organ is cut out; if the animal was born missing that organ, it is permitted. If this were not the case, then there would be no difference between “deficient” and “removed” (two types of treif animals). Whenever we say that an animal is permitted if a limb is severed, it goes without saying that the animal is permitted if it was born without it.