Trenton Halal Packing Company: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2022 (USDA)

313.1

On Thursday, April 21, 2022, at approximately 09:10 AM while performing livestock ante-mortem inspection at the holding pen, Mrs. REDACTED, consumer safety inspector trainee, observed the following regulatory non-compliance. While establishment employees were unloading livestock (4 beef calves) into the holding pen, inspector REDACTED observed one (1) brown beef calf lost its footing on both front legs and fell onto the ground.  At the time, establishment employee was driving the four calves from the main holding area into the slaughter chute (approximately 4’ x 8’) to free up space for additional livestock.   The calf slipped as the employee was closing the gate of the chute, packing the animal shoulder to shoulder with no space to turn their body.  The affected calf was observed to have fallen with both front legs folded at the elbows in a kneeling position, and the left side of its head made contact with the ground.  It was in that position for approximately 20 seconds, struggling to regain its footing in the confined space.  There was no traction material on the floor in that section of the pen, and the smooth concrete floor was very wet. Mr. REDACTED (REDACTED), floor supervisor, was immediately notified of the above observation.  There was no sign of pain or injury, and no vocalization was observed.   Ante-mortem continue after the affected calf was back on its feet.  Mr. REDACTED and Mr. REDACTED, general manager, were notified verbally and in writing with this noncompliance record of the establishment’s failure to comply with Code of Federal Regulation Title 9 chapter III part 313.1.

313.1

Today on March 16th, 2022 at approximately 1020 hours while I was performing my antemortem inspection and humane handling task on three beef and three calves being unloaded from a trailer, I found the following noncompliance. Five of the animals were off the trailer and one calf was left on the trailer hesitant to come off. Once encouraged to come off the trailer using body positioning within the trailer, the calf jumped over the ramp and landed on smooth wet concrete where it lost its footing and fell to the ground. The calf slowly got up still slipping on the smooth concrete and made its way into the holding pen with the other animals. There were no vocalizations or injuries noted. I immediately notified Mr. REDACTED, floor supervisor of the noncompliance with 9 CFR 313.1 and requested corrective actions. I applied a U.S. rejected tag #B45994574 to the loading dock. This NR will be associated with BBE3112031011N-1 due to a slip and fall due to improper footing at the unloading dock.

313.2

Today on March 14th, 2022 at approximately 0735 hours while inspector REDACTED was performing antemortem inspection on a group of lambs and goats, he observed the following non compliance. The goats and lambs were crowding towards the front of the trailer and two establishment employees were trying to encourage them off the truck. One employee in the truck use both of his hands and grabbed the skin of the goats neck and its rear end and lifted up the animal. This employee while turning his body, swung around and flung the goat out of the truck and on the loading ramp. The goat fell onto his back and was flailing to get up onto its feet. Inspector REDACTED notified the employee to stop and immediately notified Mr. REDACTED, floor supervisor who was helping move the animals off the truck of the humane handling noncompliance and explained the situation. Inspector REDACTED notified Dr. REDACTED, SPHV and Mr. REDACTED, CSI of the humane handling and we placed US Rejected tags #B39892686 and #B45256971 to the loading dock and kill floor. This is a non compliance with 9 CFR 313.2(a) and requested corrective actions. At 9:00am we discussed the corrective actions, the plant with their new consultant is having a training program on humane handling which they hope to do in the near future. I inquired if they could do it sooner and he will look into it. For today, they will train the employees that will unload the animals and document this for us to view. I inquired about what kind of training they provided, they had a verbal meeting with all personnel who deals with live animals either in slaughter or in unloading. They discussed and showed a video which they provided to me about humane handling of livestock featuring REDACTED. They also provided written documentation of the trained employees and a supervisor confirming they received training. After all corrective actions were verified, we removed the US rejected tags from the loading dock and kill floor at approximately 1130 hours.

313.1

On Wednesday, March 9th, 2022, at approximately 11:19 AM while performing Livestock Humane Handling Tasks during ante-mortem, I, consumer safety inspector REDACTED, observed the following regulatory non-compliance. While establishment was unloading livestock (cattle) from the animal trailer to their holding pen, I observed 1 beef calves slip and fell onto the concrete driveway in front of the holding pen. The concrete floor was wet due to weather condition at the time (raining). The portable wooden ram used for unloading was kicked out of position by another cattle before the said calf, causing the calf to jump directly onto the ground instead of the ram and landed on its right front torso. The animal stand back up immediately and appeared unharmed. Ante-mortem and livestock unloading was stopped immediately. Mr. REDACTED (REDACTED), floor supervisor, was immediately notified and took corrective action by properly repositioning the portable wooden ram. Unloading was allowed to resumed once the ram was back in position and ante-mortem inspection continue. This incident did not cause any injury to the animal and is not egregious in nature. Mr. REDACTED was notified verbally and in writing with this noncompliance record of the establishment’s failure to comply with Code of Federal Regulation Title 9 chapter III part 313.1(b).