B & R Meat Processing: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2025 Q1 (USDA)

313.1

On Thursday, December 19, 2024, I, CSI REDACTED while conducting a routine Livestock Humane Handling task for Category VII Slips and Falls observed the following noncompliance: At 0855 hours the designated employees for the livestock slaughter area were moving a steer from pen 5 to the knock box. The steer, when exiting pen 5 at a walking pace, slipped and the animals front knees made hard contact with the ground, the steer righted itself and proceeded along the walkway to the knockbox. The pen design has the animal taking a hard turn into the walkway. There was a thin layer of feces on the surface of the walkway in which there was a scuff/slip path visible where the steer's hoof had attempted to get traction during the slip. I took a regulatory control action and applied US Reject Tag No B-46609981 to pen 5. On 12/11/2024 a steer slipped in a similar manner when exiting Pen 5. Actions taken by the establishment were either ineffective or insufficient to prevent slips from occurring when moving animals out of pen 5. I notified Supervisor REDACTED and President/GM REDACTED of the issue and the forthcoming noncompliance. The establishment failed to meet the regulatory requirements of 9 CFR 313.1(b). The establishment does not have a robust systematic approach to humane handling. This noncompliance is being associated with noncompliance #XXC4609124511N-1 written on 12/11/2024 for similar issues.

313.1

On Wednesday, December 11, 2024, I, CSI REDACTED while conducting a routine Livestock Humane Handling task for Category VII Slips and Falls observed the following noncompliance: At 0831 hours the designated employees for the livestock slaughter area were moving a steer from pen 5 to the knock box. The steer, when exiting pen 5 at a walking pace, slipped and the animals front knee made hard contact with the ground, the steer righted itself and proceeded along the walkway to the knockbox. The outside temperature was below freezing, pen 5 had built up animal feces that filled in the built-in textured surface of the pen, which in some places was several inches thick, and the pen walkway design has the animal taking a hard turn into the walkway. I took a regulatory control action and applied US Reject Tag No B-46609978 to pen 5 due to the condition. After the steer had been shot and bled, I inspected the animals front left leg and it had bloody abrasion on it's left knee where it had made contact with the walkyway from the slip. I notified Supervisor REDACTED and President/GM REDACTED of the issue and the forthcoming noncompliance. The establishment's corrective actions were to clean pen 5 and the walkway. The built-up feces was removed, at approximately 09:30 I inspected the area and removed the tag. The establishment failed to meet the regulatory requirements of 9 CFR 313.1(b). The establishment does not have a robust systematic approach to humane handling.

313.15(a)(3)

On Thursday, October 17, 2024, I, CSI REDACTED, while conducting a routine PHIS Livestock Humane Handling task, HATS Category VIII, Stunning Effectiveness observed the following noncompliance At approximately 8:59 am the establishment stunned a market swine via a handheld captive bolt with inline rod driven using a 9X17mm blank cartridge. The animal was initially stunned and dropped, unconscious. The animal went down on its right side with part of its back resting against the wall. The bleeding cut was made immediately on the left side of neck. Blood loss was steady but not gushing, in the knock box where the animal dropped. After approximately 1 minute the animal blinked repeatedly, vocalized, and tried to right itself by attempting to roll off its shoulder onto its sternum, indicating a return to consciousness. The establishment employee stunned the animal a second time using the same handheld captive bolt in the same location on the skull. The second stun was effective, and the animal remained unconscious. I took a regulatory control action and applied USDA Reject tag #B-46609974 to the knock box. Supervisor REDACTED was notified of the issue and the forthcoming noncompliance. President/GM REDACTED was notified of the noncompliance and that the event was escalated to my supervisor. Mr. REDACTED stated that the cause was the skull thickness of older, larger animals (swine) and that the establishment would use gunshot method with 45 caliber rounds on older, larger animals to prevent reoccurrence. The establishment does not a robust systematic approach to humane handling. The establishment failed to meet the regulatory requirements of 9 CFR 313.15(a)(3).