Mariana's Meat Harvesting Corp.: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2022 (USDA)
See the detail of the non-compliance of humane livestock handling that the USDA observed at the Mariana's Meat Harvesting Corp. slaughterhouse establishment in 2022.
You can also see other establishments that were non-compliant in 2022.
313.16(a)(3)
While performing humane handling verification at 0930 hours, IPP observed the responsible establishment employee discharge the firearm into a bull's skull. The shot was not effective and the animal remained standing while bleeding from the head wound. There was no vocalization or movement to show the animal was in distress. The employee performed another attempt to render the animal unconscious approximately 30 seconds later after another round was loaded into the chamber and the animal could remain still. The animal was rendered unconscious and remained in this manner during hoisting and bleeding. Establishment management was notified of the noncompliance. IPP determined this event was not egregious and no further regulatory action was taken. Management stated that the employee will perform practice shots in order to prevent a recurrence.
313.30(a)(3),313.2(f)
HATS Category VIII: Ineffective Stun At approximately 1015 hours on May 10, 2020, while performing stunning effectiveness observations on swine, I, the District Veterinary Medical Specialist, observed the following. I observed one sow in the swine stun box, outside the slaughter floor. I observed the stun operator hold the two-prong electrical current device to the sow behind the ears. When the stun operated applied the first stun attempt with the electrical current device, I observed the sow vocalizing, remain standing and turn around inside the stun box, to face the opposite direction. The stun operator immediately retrieved the backup .22-caliber magnum rifle, which was readily available at the stun box, as I retreated to a safe location. I heard the firearm discharge for a second stun attempt, and I observed the sow to be unconscious and remain unconscious throughout the shackling, hoisting and bleeding process. Since the establishment management was not on site, the establishment management was electronically notified that a noncompliance record for the ineffective stun would be issued. There have been no noncompliance records for the same root cause issued in the past 90 days.
