Volunteer Meats LLC/412 Meat Processing: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2021 (USDA)

313.1,313.2

At approximately 9:30 am I was notified by plant personnel that a producer was here to unload. As I entered the unloading area, I observed two gates that were left open that could allow an animal to get loose. I asked the driver not to unload until the gates were closed. At this point kill floor supervisor, REDACTED was entering the unloading area. The producer had backed up the trailer to an area where the animals were required to jump/step down without the benefit of a ramp. Four beef successfully unloaded off the trailer, but there was not a pen open for them to go into. They walked down the alley way to the end and stopped. At this time REDACTED got a pen open and they began moving the animals into the open pen. The producer started unloading again, and one bovine unloaded from the trailer, but I then observed there was a cow lying down in the trailer. I told the producer to stop unloading, and at this point the animal attempted to rise. The animal was close to the opening of the trailer, so as it tried to stand up it fell out of the trailer in a recumbent position onto the ground. The animal was not trying to get up at this point. The producer was still driving the animals to the rear of the trailer. I intervened and told him he could not unload any more beef with one down on the ground. At this point plant owner Mr. Yoder was present and I notified him of my observations and of the noncompliance with 313.1(b) and 313.2(a). They closed the gates on the trailer and the producer moved the truck and trailer enough so that Mr. Yoder could get on the side of the animal and help him sit in an upright position. At this point the bovine stood and walked into the pen on his own.