Premium California Foods: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2022 (USDA)

313.2

On April 4, 2022, at approximately 1306 hours, while observing Truck Unloading of the last three of eight goats for a routine Humane Handling Task, I, CSI REDACTED observed one of the three remaining goats jump off the back of the pickup truck on its own.  I then observed an establishment employee using a metal goat hook to poke/prod the two remaining goats from the back of a pickup truck.  I observed the employee poke/prod the goats over the shoulder area in order to get them to move towards the tailgate and off the truck. Although the goats did not vocalize when they were prodded, they did react by jumping as if startled. When one of the goats reached the tailgate area, the owner of the truck reached in and pulled the goat by its horns and forced it off the truck.  During this time, the establishment employee was prodding the second goat, which then jumped off the end of the truck on its own.  Although there is a concrete unloading ramp, the pickup truck was backed up to the regular gate. The height from the tailgate to the ground was approximately 3 feet and there was no portable ramp used. Due to this incident being potentially egregious, I immediately stopped further Slaughter and contacted my supervisor, SPHV Dr. REDACTED.  Dr. REDACTED instructed me to Reject both Knock Boxes; I applied U.S. Rejected Tag #B-45984678 to the Sheep/Goat Knock Box and U.S. Rejected Tag #B-45984680 to the Cattle Knock Box.  Dr. REDACTED then contacted FLS Dr. REDACTED. Upon arrival, Dr. REDACTED observed that the pickup truck and goat hook (which belonged to the owner of the truck) had already left the premises.  Dr. REDACTED then inspected all eight goats in their Pen and observed they were acting normal and had no visible wounds.  Mr. REDACTED was able to obtain a photograph of the goat hook from the owner and showed it to Dr. REDACTED.  The goat hook was made of aluminum, hooked at both ends with black foam/rubber covering the tips. Mr. REDACTED immediately started performing Corrective Actions.  Mr. REDACTED informed Dr. REDACTED that he would start requiring all drivers to sign in at the Office and revised a document used at his other establishment.  In addition, Mr. REDACTED stated that he was already working on installing a gate near the Office so all drivers would be required to stop and sign in.  Before the end of the day, Mr. REDACTED had already performed a Retraining of the employees stationed in the Animal Pens.  After verifying corrective actions and having them be approved by the District Office, Dr. REDACTED then instructed me to remove the U.S. Rejected Tags at approximately 0720 hours on April 5, 2022. My findings indicate a noncompliance with the regulatory requirements of 9 CFR 313.2(a).