Long Prairie Packing Company, LLC: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2021 (USDA)

313.15(a)(1),313.15(b)(1)(iii)

At approximately 15:15 hours, while monitoring Stunning Effectiveness at the restrainer (HATS Category VIII), I observed the following noncompliance: A Jersey cow was in the head catch of the restrainer. The establishment employee was using a pneumatic captive bolt device to make a stunning attempt. As he attempted to stun the cow, the cow moved her head upwards, resulting in a stun wound involving her nasal sinus/nose. The cow was moving her head and consistently blinking, indicating that the cow was conscious; however, no vocalization was heard. The establishment employee immediately used the pneumatic captive bolt to make a second stunning attempt, which rendered the cow unconscious. The establishment employee verified the cow was unconscious by checking the corneal reflex, which was not present. I took a regulatory control action by stopping the line to notify Mr. REDACTED, Harvest Supervisor, of the deviation with regulations 9 CFR 313.15(a)(1) and 9 CFR 313.15(b)(1)(iii). I tagged the head with U.S. Retain tag number: MPD 65616177 to look at the two stunning wounds and released the regulatory control once I verified verbal preventative measures with Mr. REDACTED. One stun wound, measured from the top center of the poll, was 7.25 inches ventral and 1.5 inches left lateral. This wound was in the nasal sinus with hemorrhage found in the nasopharyngeal cavity. The other stun wound, measured from the top center poll, was 3.5 inches ventral and 0.5 inches right lateral.

313.1

While performing Ante-Mortem Inspection (HATS Category #4) on July 20th at approximately 09:00 hours, I observed the following noncompliance: a pen in the barn (pen #30) was empty. While I walked through the empty pen, I found a piece of welded metal, by a pole near the edge (middle section) of the pen closest to the alleyway, turned up creating a sharp edge. The bent-up piece of metal was approximately 2.5 inches. I tagged the pen with U.S. Reject tag #B41501018 and notified REDACTED, Barn Supervisor, of the forthcoming noncompliance with 9 CFR 313.1, which states "Livestock pens, driveways, and ramps shall be maintained in good repair". After the protruding piece of metal was removed, the pen was examined for sharp edges by SPHV REDACTED, who found an additional sharp protrusion in the Southeast corner of pen 30. This was an approximately four-inch long, 2.5-inch diameter, hollow, round horizontal fence bar, extending Eastward from a vertical fence post. The bar terminated in an approximately 45-degree sharp angle. Supervisor REDACTED was notified of this additional finding, and notified maintenance personnel. Examining no further sharp or protruding objects, SPHV REDACTED removed US Reject tag number B41501018 from pen 30 at approximately 10:24 and notified Supervisor REDACTED.

313.1,313.15(b)(1)(iii)

At approximately 15:24 while I, SPHV REDACTED, was verifying HATS Category VIII – Stunning Effectiveness – at the front of the restrainer, I was notified by establishment Supervisor, Mr. REDACTED, of an entrapped cow requiring euthanasia in the barn. From the elevated platform alongside the single file chute, I observed a dark-coated Jersey or crossbred cow, weighing approximately 900 pounds, entrapped in the manway of the North wall of the alleyway leading to the crowd pen. The animal was standing, facing Northwest, lodged in one of the three approximately 15-inch openings between sections of the curved alleyway wall immediately preceding the crowd pen. The animal’s head, forelegs, thorax, and ribcage were protruding into the personnel space, her forelegs standing on the elevated concrete flooring. The animal’s hips and hindlegs were standing in the alleyway. The rounded buttresses at the termini of the wall sections were compressing bilaterally on the animal’s abdomen caudal to the 13th ribs and cranial to the ilia, such that she could not escape forward nor backward. The animal was bright and alert. She was not vocalizing nor otherwise demonstrating signs of immediate distress. The cow was rendered unconscious by a single gunshot to the frontal cranium and confirmed as such before a security gunshot was delivered, and the animal exsanguinated by ritual-style cut transecting the jugular veins and carotid arteries. The euthanized animal was then lifted from her entrapment via a chain around her neck hoisted from the bucket of a skid loader. The animal bore the following identity devices: backtag number 41LO 0582, and a green ear tag number 683. At approximately 15:28, I informed Vice President of Operations, Mr. REDACTED, and Harvest Superintendent, Mr. REDACTED, of the establishment’s noncompliance with the regulatory requirements of 9 CFR 313.1(a) and 313.15(b)(1)(iii) and of the forthcoming humane handling noncompliance record. Mr. REDACTED verbally informed me of the establishment’s immediate corrective action plan to prevent further animal entrapment through the remainder of stunning operations and, therefore, I did not take a regulatory control action.

313.15(b)(1)(iii)

At approximately 14:55 while I, SPHV REDACTED, was verifying HATS Category VIII – Stunning Effectiveness – at the front of the restrainer, I observed the following humane handling noncompliance: Establishment employees stopped the restrainer as a Jersey cow, weighing approximately 800 pounds, was misaligned on the brisket conveyor. The animal’s head and both of her forelegs were in the left well of the conveyor while her hindlegs were properly straddling the brisket conveyor. From the position of the leg shackler, establishment employees rendered the animal unconscious after the first application of a handheld captive bolt stunner and delivered a security stun before dragging the unconscious animal from the front of the restrainer by a chain around her neck. Subsequently, there were three additional cows within the restrainer: (1) a Holstein cow weighing approximately 1200 pounds was positioned closest to the front of the restrainer. Her head was at roughly the midpoint of the restrainer longitudinally. Her forelegs and hindlegs were properly straddling the brisket conveyor, but she was wedged, roughly hip-to-shoulder, with the next cow (2) a Jersey weighing approximately 750 pounds. The Jersey cow was positioned between the hip and abdomen of the Holstein on her right and the lateral wall of the restrainer to her left. Her head, thorax and both forelegs were wedged within the left well of the brisket conveyor, her head reaching approximately the scapula of the Holstein in front of her. I was unable to assess the orientation of her hindlegs, as they were obstructed by the Holstein cow’s hind-end. At this moment, there was also (3) a Jersey cow weighing approximately 800 pounds, standing at the top of the slide down to the brisket conveyor. The overhead, hydraulic door was closed behind her. No animals showed outward signs of distress. I observed as establishment employees raised the top hatch of the restrainer to access the animals on the brisket conveyor. Establishment employees rendered the Holstein cow (1) unconscious with the first application of a handheld captive bolt stunner from above, then administered a security stun. Next, with one establishment employee holding the head of the unconscious Holstein to the right, a second establishment employee rendered the Jersey cow (2) unconscious with the first application of a handheld captive bolt stunner from the position of the leg shackler, then administered a security stun. The unconscious Holstein cow was then dragged from the front of the restrainer by a chain around her neck. In the intervening moments, the Jersey cow (3) slid down the ramp to the brisket conveyor and became lodged on top of the unconscious Jersey cow, her forelegs straddling the brisket conveyor while her ventral abdomen and hindlegs straddled the unconscious Jersey cow at the base of the ramp. Establishment employees rendered the Jersey cow (3) unconscious with the first application of a handheld captive bolt stunner from above, then delivered a security stun before dragging the Jersey cow (3) from the front of the restrainer by a chain around her neck. As the unconscious Jersey cow (3) was being removed from the restrainer, the unconscious Jersey cow (2) fell through the opening between the left lateral wall of the restrainer and the brisket conveyor and landed on the floor at the feet of the leg shackler’s position. Thereafter, establishment employees resumed normal stunning operations. The Jersey cow (2) was subsequently shackled and hoisted on the line and designated a U.S. Suspect, number M2543939. On postmortem examination, there were four adjacent fractured ribs on the right side, T5-T9, the fractures were all transverse and dorso-lateral near the capitum and its articulation with the vertebrae. There was scant hemorrhage and dislocation at the fracture sites. At approximately 15:40, I informed Quality Assurance Manager, Ms. REDACTED, of the establishment’s noncompliance with the regulatory requirements of 9 CFR 313.15(b)(1)(iii), specifically that which states, “Chutes, alleys and stunning areas shall be so designed that they will comfortably accommodate the kinds of animals to be stunned.” The carcass and parts of the retained carcass, U.S. Suspect number M2543939, were passed without restriction following veterinary disposition.

313.15(b)(1)(iii)

At approximately 16:36 while I, SPHV REDACTED, was verifying HATS Category VIII – Stunning Effectiveness – at the front of the restrainer, I became aware of an entrapped cow at the entrance to the restrainer, before the slope down to the brisket conveyor. The cow was inverted – her tail-end in the air with hindlegs off the ground, her head and both forelegs were wedged between the brisket bumper and the right wall of the restrainer, her neck was flexed laterally. Her abdomen was crumpled upon herself such that she could neither fall forward, due to the sloped roof of the restrainer, nor could she fall backward, onto her feet, due to her entrapped fore-end. A red-hat establishment supervisor climbed into the restrainer from the front end and stunned the cow with a handheld captive bolt stunner three times: twice through the frontal bone, once from behind the poll. From my vantage point by the door between the barn and the restrainer area, I could not observe the cow’s fore-end for signs of an effective stun but there were no vocalizations nor indications of conscious voluntary movement after the first application of the stunner. The unconscious cow was dragged out the front of the restrainer by a chain around her foreleg and security stunned a fourth time on the belly conveyor. There was no indication that she was conscious while being manipulated out of the restrainer. No additional animals were stunned following this incident. At approximately 17:15, I informed Quality Assurance Lead, Mr. REDACTED, of my observations at the restrainer and of my intention to write the incident as a humane handling noncompliance record. I informed Mr. REDACTED that the establishment failed to meet the regulatory requirements of 9 CFR 313.15(a)(2). I examined the carcass and parts of the entrapped cow for evidence of injury which may have resulted from her entrapment in the restrainer. The synovial fluid of her right shoulder joint was tinged red with blood and there were minor contusions in the muscles of the dorsolateral ribcage. All stun wounds in the anterior cranium were located approximately 1 to 1.5 inches above the intersection of anatomical lines connecting each ear to the medial canthus of the contralateral eye.