Pohlmans Meat Processing Plant: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2021 (USDA)

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

At approximately 10:20 am on 04/19/2021, while performing HATS activities, Category VIII- Stunning Effectiveness, at the Pohlman’s Meat Processing Establishment, I witnessed a failure of the captive bolt stunning procedure to produce immediate unconsciousness appropriately and effectively to a beef steer. I witnessed the Establishment employee activate a handheld captive bolt gun to the forehead of the steer and after firing the gun the steer vocalized, bled at the entry point, and remained standing. The employee then repeated the procedure after immediately reloading the gun with the same result. On the third attempt after immediately reloading the gun, the steer was effectively rendered unconscious, and the stunner administered a security knock after the animal fell. The stunning failures were each followed by immediate restuns and the knock box was adequate in keeping the animal confined and standing throughout the event. The animal was agitated and had excessive head movement which contributed to the ineffective stun on attempts one and two. I placed a tag (tag # B37-087440) on the knock box and instructed plant management, Ted Pohlman, to halt further captive bolt stunning until further instruction came from FSIS supervisory personnel. I contacted my supervisor, Dr. REDACTED. He had a conversation with REDACTED about the incident and discussed their plan for corrective actions. REDACTED indicated that the employee responsible for stunning would be counselled on proper placement and procedures for captive bolt stunning and an understanding of when to take the shot, especially with agitated animals. She also stated that the plant will take action to install a head restraint device as soon as possible. After Dr. REDACTED conversation with plant management, I removed the tag and instructed them that they could restart their slaughter activities and that they will be receiving an NR for Humane Handling. CFR 9 313.15(a)(1) and 313.15(b)(iii) are the regulatory citing used for this incident. At approximately 11:30 am, they restarted slaughter activities.