Swift Pork Company: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2022 (USDA)

313.2

On 08/16/2022 at approximately 2130 hours, I met with Mr. REDACTED, Livestock Supervisor, at the pen card box to perform HATS Category IV – Antemortem Inspection. Upon my arrival, a noncompliance was observed with HATS Category VII – Observations for Slips and Falls. I observed 25-30 hogs sandwiched against and pointed towards the closed gate in the center alley. The hogs were piling and toppling over one another with continuous loud vocalizations. Some of the hogs that were piling fell sideways and backwards into the midst of surrounding hogs and against the gate. The stun tech along with one of the center alley drivers tried to open the gate to free the hogs but were unable due to the force of the hogs pressing against the gate. The center alley driver then rattled his paddle over the hogs and enough hogs turned and moved away from him that he was able to open the gate. As he opened the gate and as some of the hogs were moving away from him, I then noticed a hog a few feet from the gate in lateral recumbency, panting heavily with purple blotchy skin. Numerous hogs stepped on the down hog from both directions as some of the hogs were going towards the REDACTED and others back up the center alley. The down hog got up and started walking towards the REDACTED panting heavily and was euthanized with a handheld captive bolt gun by the stun tech. No external injuries were observed. After the gate was opened, I observed many of the hogs panting heavily scrambling in both directions. I informed Mr. REDACTED, who was standing next to me that I was issuing a noncompliance record and was rejecting the center alley. Mr. REDACTED instructed the center alley driver to close the gate. I placed U.S. Reject tag B36019642 across the gate, at approximately 2133 hours, and allowed the hogs on the REDACTED side to be moved to slaughter. Mr. REDACTED, General Harvest Superintendent arrived, and I requested an immediate corrective action. Mr. REDACTED advised me the root cause was from a newly trained employee who caused the hogs to move towards the gate resulting in the piling and he would remove him and have him retrained on the process. At approximately 2142 hours I removed the U.S. Reject tag and allowed slaughter to resume. At approximately 2330 hours Mr. REDACTED informed me that upon further review of the incident with Mr. REDACTED, Animal Welfare Manager, the cause was due to the center alley driver moving too many hogs to the REDACTED drive, and once the hogs were gated, got spooked causing them to pile. Mr. REDACTED informed me that the employee was removed from the area.

313.2

HATS Category III: Water Availability On Wednesday, May 11, 2022, at approximately 2123 hours, while performing Livestock Humane Handling verification, I observed the following noncompliance: the East side of loading chute 3 had approximately 30 hogs, with a gate closed from the rest of the group on the West side of the loading chute. I noted that the West side behind the gate had water, but that the hogs on the East side did not have access to water. I verbally notified Yard Supervisor REDACTED of the forthcoming noncompliance for failing to provide access to water as required in 9 CFR 313.2(e). Upon notification of the deviation, Mr. REDACTED moved the pigs out of the area and into a pen with access to water.

313.1

At approximately 1830 hours, while performing HATS Category V – Handling of Suspect and Disabled in pen 45, I observed a noncompliance in Category VII – Observation for Slips and Falls, involving Mr. REDACTED, Stun Tech.  As Mr. REDACTED was presenting “subject” hogs in pen 45 as they were rising from a recumbent position, I briefly looked over in the direction of the scales and noticed Livestock employees moving hogs off the scales using rattle paddles audibly for this purpose. While the hogs were being moved, I observed one fall and another slip. No apparent injuries or signs of distress were observed. I continued to monitor hogs as Livestock employees moved several more groups from 1928 to 1953 hours, resulting in numerous hogs sliding, slipping with knuckles contacting the floor, and falling backwards landing on both hams, and frontwards landing on the shoulders and sides. These observations occurred on the scales and on the downward slopes exiting the scales. I observed a heavy buildup of fecal material on the scales and slopes. On two of the groups, I observed several hogs riding the backs of others and, some vocalizing loudly as Livestock employees audibly used their rattle paddles to move hogs off the scale. On one occasion, a hog was riding the back of a hog in front while they were moving off the scale and it fell backwards. I informed Mr. REDACTED, Livestock Supervisor of my observations, notified him a noncompliance record would be issued for inhumane handling with regulatory requirements of 9 CFR 313.1(b) for not providing good footing, and requested he provide an immediate corrective action.  Mr. REDACTED instructed Livestock employees to wash down the scales and downward slopes and advised me that he would ensure both scales and the drive alleys before and after the scales be cleaned as often as needed. I informed Mr. REDACTED that the scales were not rejected due to the immediate corrective action.  Mr. REDACTED provided verbal preventative measures. This NR has the same root cause as NR HEM1823023812N / 1, dated 2/12/2022. Previous preventative measures were either not implemented or ineffective.

313.5,313.2

At approximately 2117 hours, while performing HATS Category VI – Electric Prod/Alternative Object Use at the small drive alley just before the entrance of the northeast stunner, I observed a hog standing in the final compartment before the stunner with its snout and mouth pinned between two of the mechanical gates. The right side of the hog was facing me. The hogs’ right eye was bulged out, exposing more of the sclera than would be seen with a hog at rest. The hogs’ vocalizations were muffled and intermittent. With each exhalation its upper lip puffed out. The hog was unable to open its mouth because of the compression of the mechanical gates. The employee on the near side of the alley tapped the hog and the mechanical gates several times with his rattle paddle, and the employee on the far side pushed buttons on the control panel. Despite these attempts to free the hog, the hog’s snout and mouth remained entrapped. The hog continued with muffled vocalizations with the right eye still fixated and bulged out. The far side employee then shook his shaker can near the hog’s face. The hog suddenly pulled out from between the gates. I did not see any visible injuries to the hog, so I walked down to the center alley and motioned to the center alley drivers to stop moving any more hogs. Right at that moment, Mr. REDACTED, Stick Supervisor arrived, and I informed him of my observations, notified him a noncompliance record would be issued for inhumane handling with regulatory requirements of 9 CFR 313.2 and 9 CFR 313.5(b)(2) for the mechanical gates operating in a manner that resulted in excitement and discomfort and that I was stopping operations. Mr. REDACTED proffered an immediate corrective action of instructing the employee responsible for moving hogs in the last compartment to the stunner entrance to pay special attention to the gates ensuring all the hogs in the group are facing away from the gates and towards the stunner. Based on Mr. REDACTED immediate action, and proffered preventative measures, I did not reject the center alley. I then allowed operations to resume.

313.1,313.2

03/24/2022 Non-Compliance- Livestock - Hogs slipping and falling At approximately 0904 hours, As I was performing HATS task VII Slips and Falls. I walked south, down the alleyway of the livestock barn. I stopped and stood behind a closed gate that was across the alley just north of pen #19. I observed 2 establishment employees shaking their rattle cans to drive a group of hogs, south, towards the alley leading up to the REDACTED. The employee standing approximately eight feet in front of me was continually shaking his implement. A hog behind him slipped on the excessive manure and water covered floor of the alley. At the same time a second employee was standing on the west side of the alley, behind the gate of pen #19, shaking his rattle can continually. I observed a hog running past him and fall near the employee. The employee continued to rattle the implement as the hog struggled to regain a standing position. As the hog moved away from the noise, I observed it’s first steps and noticed the stride of the left hind leg was noticeably shortened in length. No visible injuries were observed. I opened the gate, stepped into the alley, and stopped the actions of the employees driving the hogs and causing excessive excitement by asking the employees to stop using the implements. I motioned for the supervisor, by waving my hand to REDACTED, who was in the north end of the alley, to come down to me. The 2 employees had moved the hog ,by waving their arms, out of the alley through a gate toward pen #43 which is designated for slow movers and downers. A separate gate in the alley had not been latched and the hog escaped out of the livestock alley into an area of the plant currently undergoing remodeling. The hog ran several feet and stopped at the top of a set of stairs leading down to the stick. Livestock Supervisor, REDACTED arrived and I explained my observations to him. He called for Supervisor REDACTED. Mr. REDACTED and Livestock General Foreman, REDACTED arrived. REDACTED and REDACTED assisted the employees in directing the hog out of the construction area and away from the stairs and into pen #43. I notified Mr. REDACTED of my observations and informed him that a regulatory non-noncompliance would be documented. Mr. REDACTED had the employees immediately hose off the slick alley. These observations are a non-compliance with 9 CFR 313.1(b), 9 CFR 313.2 (a, b)

313.2

At approximately 2230 hours, while performing HATS Category II – Truck Unloading outside of dock 1, Category VI – Electric Prod/Alternative Object Use, in which a noncompliance was observed. As the driver was unloading the remaining 15-20 hogs from the bottom deck, I observed him striking numerous hogs, some of them while they were moving on the back with his plastic shaker can, eliciting loud vocalizations from the hogs. He struck the last hog in the group repeatedly while it was moving away from him towards the trucks exit. The hog was moving faster than a normal walking speed. When I arrived at the inside of dock 1, the driver began unloading hogs from the upper deck. As I looked inside the trailer and up the ramp, the hogs were bunched up and balking against one of the middle partition gates facing away from the driver. I observed the driver continuing to use his shaker can by striking several hogs causing loud vocalizations. I observed him use his shaker can by striking one of the hogs five to seven times on the back. The hogs continued to balk until he started to use his plastic sort board. He bounced the sort board up and down on top of the hogs heads and back, concurrently as he was striking adjacent hogs with the shaker can. This elicited loud vocalizations from the hogs, causing the group to move towards the top of the exit ramp. These loud vocalizations were louder than vocalizations heard during normal animal movement and handling. The hogs continued to vocalize loudly, as they frantically turned into one another. Several of the leading hogs stopped at the top of the ramp. Despite this, the driver continued to strike the hogs on the back of the group forcing them to pile on the ones at the top of the ramp and continued until the hogs rode one another down the ramp. I asked the employee at the tattoo stand to tell the driver to stop unloading, and he did. I asked the dock monitor to radio for a supervisor. While waiting for a supervisor, the driver started unloading hogs again from another section of the upper deck, and then stopped unloading again shortly before a supervisor arrived. No apparent injuries were observed. I informed Mr. REDACTED Livestock Supervisor, of my observations, notified him a noncompliance record would be issued for inhumane handling and requested an immediate corrective action and preventative measure. Mr. REDACTED provided a verbal response and had an establishment employee unload the remaining hogs. Based on Mr. REDACTED immediate action, I did not reject the unloading dock.

313.1

At approximately 1830 hours, while performing HATS Category V – Handling of Suspect and Disabled in pen 45, Category VII – Observation for Slips and Falls, in which a noncompliance was observed, with Mr. REDACTED, Stun Tech. As Mr. REDACTED was presenting the hogs as they were rising from a recumbent position, I observed several hogs slip and fall on the downward slopes at the exits of scales A and B as Livestock employees used rattle paddles audibly to move the hogs from the scales towards holding pens. No apparent injuries or signs of distress were observed. I continued to monitor hogs as Livestock employees moved several more groups at 1849, 1859, 1904, and 1908 hours, resulting in numerous hogs sliding, nine slips, and nine falls. Most of the slips and falls occurred on the downward slope, and no injuries or signs of distress were observed. I observed a heavy buildup of fecal material on the scales and slopes. I informed Mr. REDACTED, Livestock Supervisor of my observations, notified him a noncompliance record would be issued for inhumane handling with regulatory requirements of 9 CFR 313.1(b) for not providing good footing, and requested he provide an immediate corrective action. As we were talking, a Livestock employee began washing down the scales and the downward slopes, this being the immediate corrective action. Mr. REDACTED advised me that he would ensure both scales and the drive alleys before and after the scales be kept clean for the remainder of the shift. I informed Mr. REDACTED that the scales were not rejected due to the immediate corrective action. Mr. REDACTED provided verbal preventative measures.

313.2

At approximately 1911 hours, while performing HATS Category V – Handling of Suspect and Disabled in pen 43, Category VII – Observation for Slips and Falls, in which a noncompliance was observed, with Mr. REDACTED, Stun Tech. As Mr. REDACTED was presenting the hogs as they were rising from a recumbent position, I heard loud vocalizations coming from the center alley, which were louder than vocalizations heard during normal animal movement and handling. I immediately looked up and observed a center alley hog driver shaking her rattle can and rattle paddle over a group of hogs as the group of hogs continued to vocalize, at the exit of one of the holding pens. The driver was facing me and from my vantage point, the driver was against a sidewall of the pen. She was trying to move the hogs out of the pen to the center alley, but the hogs were piling on top of each other in all directions while she continued to shake her rattle can and rattle paddle. The hogs continued to pile and vocalize loudly as they exited the pen into the center alley. The driver was now behind the hogs in the center alley moving the hogs towards the REDACTED, continuing to shake her rattle can and rattle paddle, causing excessive excitement and discomfort. Despite the piling and intense vocalizations, the driver continued to shake her rattle can and rattle paddle behind the group of hogs, causing one of them to fall. I motioned to Mr. REDACTED, Livestock Supervisor, to have the driver stop moving the hogs, and he did. There were approximately 40 hogs in the group. I informed Mr. REDACTED of my observations, notified him a noncompliance record would be issued for inhumane handling, and that I was rejecting the center alley gate to prevent further inhumane handling. Before I left pen 43 to place my tag, Mr. REDACTED, Stick Supervisor arrived and proffered an immediate corrective action to remove the center alley driver and that she would be retrained and coached on safe animal handling. Based on Mr. REDACTED immediate action, I did not reject the center alley.

313.15(a)(3),313.15(a)(1)

HATS Category VIII Stunning Effectiveness On 12/13/2021 at approximately 1500 hours while monitoring the establishment’s humane handling practices I, SCSI REDACTED observed the following the non-compliance. I observed an establishment employee discharge a captive bolt gun on a non-ambulatory hog in the disabled pen. The captive bolt gun discharged, and the hog began vocalizing and walking around the pen area with visible blood from the ineffective stun attempt site. The establishment employee reloaded the captive bolt device and utilized a sorting board to limit the free movement of the hog. The establishment employee delivered an immediate and effective corrective action stun attempt with the captive bolt device, rendering the hog unconscious, and it remained so thereafter. I notified Humane Handling Manager REDACTED of my observations of non-compliance with 9CFR 313.15(a)(1) and 9CFR 313.15(a)(3), and I took a regulatory control action by applying U.S. Reject tag B-45467416 and B-45467357 to the stick alleyways.

313.2,313.5

At approximately 0101 hours while performing HATS Category VIII – Stunning Effectiveness at the exit of the north stunner I heard intermittent loud vocalizations. The vocalizations continued so I walked over to the small drive alley just before the entrance of the north stunner and observed a hog sitting in the drive alley with its leg pinned between the push gate and the wall, exhibiting open mouth breathing. I tapped my fingers on my hard hat, which is understood throughout the establishment that a supervisor is needed. While waiting for a supervisor, the hog continued intermittent loud vocalizations, especially when it shifted its body. Approximately five minutes later Mr. REDACTED, Acting Livestock Stick Supervisor arrived and observed the hog. Mr. REDACTED then proceeded to take measures to lockout-tagout the push gates. After this was done, Mr. REDACTED and another establishment employee entered the confined space to euthanize the hog. In the process, the other five hogs in the area moved quickly towards the hog that was pinned and two of them toppled over the trapped hog eliciting loud vocalizations. The trapped hog was effectively and humanely stunned with a hand-held captive bolt device (HHCB) and removed from the drive alley. No visible injuries were observed on the unconscious hog. I informed Mr. REDACTED that I was stopping slaughter operations and placed U.S. Reject tag B34826083 across the main drive alley at approximately 0112 hours. I informed him I would be contacting the Des Moines district office, through supervisor channels for further guidance. After discussing the incident with Dr. REDACTED, DVMS, a conference call was held with Ms. REDACTED, Regulatory Manager, Mr. REDACTED, Animal Welfare Manger, Mr. REDACTED, Acting Stick Supervisor, and myself, and the establishment was informed of the forthcoming noncompliance record (NR). Albeit the incident was not deemed egregious we asked for verbal preventative measures before the U.S. Reject tag would be removed. At approximately 0350 hours, after discussion with establishment management about their preventative measures, I removed the U.S. Reject tag, prior to the start of first shift slaughter operations. Specific regulations found noncompliant: 9 CFR 313.2(b) and 9 CFR 313.5(b)(2).

313.2

On 10/15/2021, while performing HATS Category V – Suspect and Disabled, a noncompliance was observed in HATS Category III – Water and Feed Availability. At approximately 2040 hours, I was reevaluating a hog in pen 22 that I had segregated earlier from the center alley, at 1730 hours, with signs of PSS with ataxia. While I was waiting to see if the hog would lie down, I noticed the dual nipple waterer to my right, so I decided to ensure water was available. I pressed down both nipples and no water came out. I summoned for Mr. REDACTED, Livestock Supervisor and communicated my findings with him. This section of pen 22 was being used as a temporary subject pen and was gated in half. The other half of pen 22 had access to the new REDACTED area which has available water. I informed Mr. REDACTED a noncompliance would be issued. For an immediate corrective action, Mr. REDACTED opened one of the gates in pen 22 providing access to the new REDACTED area. At 2345 hours, I met with Mr. REDACTED at pen 22 and he showed me that the water was turned on and that the nipples now had available water. Mr. REDACTED advised me that Mr. REDACTED, Animal Welfare Manager was notified of the issue and would investigate further and get with me on Monday to discuss his findings.