Schenk Packing Company, Inc.: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2022 (USDA)

313.2(f)

HATS Category VIII: Stunning Effectiveness On July 5th, at approximately 8:40 PM, a Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) observed the following noncompliance. While observing operations in the plant’s stunning area, the CSI witnessed an establishment employee use a pneumatic captive bolt device on an Angus cow, which was adequately restrained. The animal remained standing and continued to look at either side of the stunning area without vocalizing, as it had been doing before the attempted stun. The CSI did not observe any blood or tissue on the head. The establishment employee then immediately reset the pneumatic stunner and made a second attempt to stun, which made contact with the skull. Again, the CSI did not observe any blood or tissue on the head, and the cow remained standing and was still, with no vocalization. The establishment employee then immediately reached for one of two handheld captive bolt devices that rested atop a nearby shelf and used it to deliver a third stun attempt. The cow remained standing and did not vocalize nor blink, but there was a slight head tremor noted. The establishment employee then immediately reached for the other handheld captive bolt device on the shelf and administered a fourth stun attempt, which brought the cow to the ground. Blood and tissue were noted at the site of contact and the cow was confirmed to be fully unconscious. After these observations, the Public Health Veterinarian (PHV) on duty was called to the stunning area where the situation was explained. The PHV then went to the kill floor, where the cow in question was hanging and remained unconscious. The head was palpated and only three knock holes were discovered. The PHV confirmed that this was noncompliance, and directed the CSI to tag the three stunning devices. The pneumatic stunner was tagged with U.S. Reject tag B42 102473 and the two handheld stunners were tagged jointly with U.S. Reject tag B42 102476. The number of knock holes was later confirmed by looking at the skull when the hide was removed. The plant’s night manager was notified of the noncompliance and that an NR would be issued. Denver District Management was contacted through supervisory channels. After discussion with Denver District Management and receipt of preventive measures from the plant, the U.S. Reject tags were removed at approximately 10:00 PM. No other noncompliance reports for the same root cause were written in the past 90 days. The establishment operates under a robust systematic approach to humane handling.

313.1

On February 24th, 2022, at approximately 5:20 PM, I was beckoned by the establishment’s slaughter floor supervisor to the live cattle staging area. Upon arrival, I observed the following noncompliance. I observed one Holstein dairy cow by the U.S. Suspect pen, with her head ensnared by a chain. I approached the cow and observed that a carabiner on a chain, which was fixed to one of the metal poles that formed the U.S. Suspect pen by a second carabiner, had punctured through the cow’s cheek and clasped, preventing the cow from moving any farther away from the poles than the chain length allowed. I observed the cow to be stuck and agitated but calm enough to allow me to open the carabiner, turn it, and remove it from her cheek. I then observed a Jersey dairy cow, one of four other cows in the staging area, chewing on another chain that was fixed to a different metal gate. I advised one of the establishment’s cattle drivers to keep the remaining five cows away from the chains and carabiners until the animals were ready to be moved into the drive-up alley. I also advised the cattle drivers that the Holstein which had been ensnared could then be moved into the drive-up alley to the stun box. I affixed U.S. Reject tag A-761804 to the chain and carabiners. I observed establishment personnel move the chain and carabiners to another location in the staging area, away from where the cattle could get to it. I verbally informed the 2nd shift plant manager of the incident, and that a noncompliance report would be issued. There have been no noncompliance records issued for the same root cause within the past 90 days.