Lorentz Etc. Inc.: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2023 (USDA)

313.1

HATS Category VII: Observation of Slips and Falls; Water/Feed Availability On September 14, 2023, at approximately 0720 hours while observing HATS Category VII, Observation of Slips and Falls, I observed the following noncompliance Category VII, Observation of Slips and Falls. In pen number 2 there was a leaking waterspout at the water trough. The water had accumulated and combined with fecal accumulation, creating an accumulation of sludge in the pen. Pen number 2 measures approximately 20 feet by 20 feet. The sludge accumulation in the pen measured approximately half the pen, to cover about 10 feet by 20 feet. The pen had approximately 12 bovines in the pen at the time. I watched the establishment move the bovines out of pen number 2 to the chute that leads to the restrainer. The animals needed to walk through the water and fecal sludge to get to the chute. I observed the last cow out of the pen slip and fall in the excessive sludge buildup. During the slip, she lost control of her back legs but was able to recover her balance. When she fell, she completely lost footing on all four feet, falling to her knees. She then regained footing, stood, and walked to the chute without further incident. I rejected the pen with USDA Reject Tag #B39908716 and explained to Slaughter Floor Supervisor, REDACTED the details of the noncompliance I observed and why I took regulatory control action. I observed maintenance fix the leaking valve. Mr. REDACTED directed an employee to remove the buildup from the pen to restore good footing to the pen. When these corrective actions were implemented, Mr. REDACTED notified me, and after I inspected the pen I removed the regulatory control action, releasing the pen for normal use.

313.15(a)(1)

HATS Category VIII On July 25th, 2023, while conducting a humane handling review I, Dr. REDACTED, noticed the following non-compliance with HATS Category VIII, stunning effectiveness. At approximately 1030 hours, the establishment stunner operator attempted to stun a cow with a handheld captive bolt (HHCB). The captive bolt penetrated the skull of the animal, I was unable to observe signs of consciousness after the stun, and the captive bolt operator attempted to remove the captive bolt from the cow’s head but the captive bolt was stuck in the head of the animal. The employee then released the animal from the stunning chute. Upon release, the animal laid upright and sternally, then started deep rhythmic breathing, and it’s eyes were rapidly moving rostrally to caudally. The employee immediately grabbed the back-up captive bolt and placed a successful second stun which rendered the animal unconscious. The animal stopped breathing, the eyes stopped moving and the animal fell on it's side. I took a verbal regulatory control action and immediately stopped stunning operations. At approximately 1045 hours, Slaughter Supervisor REDACTED attributed the ineffective stun to an issue with the HHCB, and he provided me with corrective actions. The corrective actions were to take the HHCB that was used on the first stunning attempt to maintenance and perform a function check and maintenance. Once these corrective actions were given, I released the regulatory control action and allowed stunning to continue. I notified Supervisor REDACTED that a non-compliance would be issued for this incident. This is a non-compliance with 9 CFR 313.15(a)(1).