2,587. Resolving a Doubt

Hilchos Shechita 10:14

If a butcher is well-versed in the conditions that render an animal a treifa and he has earned a reputation for religious observance, he may slaughter, inspect and sell animals on his own without concern. This because the testimony of one valid witness is accepted regarding Torah prohibitions regardless of whether or not he will benefit. We’ve already discussed how we don’t buy meat from a butcher who slaughters and inspects by himself, neither outside of Israel nor in Israel nowadays, unless he has earned a reputation as an expert. If he sold a treifa, he is placed under a ban and removed as butcher. He cannot reestablish his credentials until he goes to a place where he is unknown and returns an extremely valuable item that was lost or slaughters for his own use and declares the animal treif, thereby incurring a great loss.

Hilchos Shechita 11:1

Let’s say that there’s a doubt as to whether an animal or bird should be ruled a treifa because of one of the aforementioned conditions, such as if the animal fell and didn’t walk, or it was attacked by a wild animal and we don’t know if the flesh near the intestines turned red, or its skull was crushed and we don’t know if it was the greater part, etc. If the animal’s a male and it survived for 12 months, we assume that it remains intact like all animals; if it’s a female, we wait for it to give birth. As far as a bird, if it’s a male, we wait 12 months, and if it’s a female, we wait for it to lay its current eggs, generate another batch, and lay them.