North Cascades Meat Producers Cooperative: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2023 (USDA)

313.16(a)(1)

HATS Category VIII: Stunning Effectiveness, 9CFR313.16(a)(1) On 9/7/2023, at approximately 0854 hours at North Cascades Meat Producers Co-Op, while observing stunning of a steer in the establishment’s cattle outdoor restraint squeeze chute with head catch, IPP observed the following. The steer was in the chute but not restrained by the head catch or a neck restraint because its horns inhibited movement through the gate. The establishment Lead Butcher attempted to stun the animal using a rifle loaded with frangible .22 magnum ammunition, but the steer remained standing. The animal was observed to be calm and still with no vocalization. A rifle bolt was reset and the second stun attempt was applied. The animal collapsed to the ground and showed no signs of sensibility, the Lead Butcher verbally confirmed his check for signs of sensibility. The Lead Butcher stated a Security Stun would be applied and moved to the side of the chute to apply a third stun application. The tongue was observed to be hanging out of the animal’s mouth and there was no movement in the body when the Lead Butcher performed an effective exsanguination before the animal was shackled or hoisted. U.S. Reject Tag B42102454 was applied to the stun box. The Establishment HACCP Coordinator and Establishment Board President were verbally informed of the non-compliance. IPP noted during inspection of the skull that two holes were nearly midline and approximately 1” above the intersection of the theoretical lines between the medial canthus of the eye and the lateral edge of the horn. A third hole was approximately 0.25" right of midline and 1" below the intersection of the lines between the medial canthus of the eye and the lateral edge of the horn. The Frontline Supervisor was notified, and the Denver District Management Team was notified through supervisory channels. This noncompliance is associated with a Humane Handling noncompliance documented on 7/11/2023 (#IGN2217071511N) of same root cause. This establishment currently operates under a robust systematic approach to the humane handling and slaughter of livestock.

313.2

HATS Category: Water Availability On August 24th at approximately 9:50 AM, I, the SPHV performing inspection at establishment M46010 (North Cascades Meat Producers' Cooperative), observed the following noncompliance. A steer, in the 7th pen where animals for the day's slaughter are held, was observed as having no access to water. There was no receptacle for water in the stall, only bedding. Originally, at the time of antemortem inspection, the steer was held in a different pen with a filled water bucket. The steer had been moved at some point between 8:30 AM and 8:50 AM. I took a regulatory control action on the 7th pen with U.S. Reject tag B37 054877. I then verbally informed the establishment's Interim HACCP Coordinator that the pen was rejected and the animal inside required access to water, as stipulated in 9 CFR 313.2(e). I also stated that the animal would not be allowed to go to slaughter until water was provided, at which point I would subsequently remove the U.S. Reject Tag. At approximately 10:03 AM I observed the interim HACCP coordinator putting a sizeable water bucket into the 7th stall and subsequently filling it with water using the nearby hose. Several minutes later I removed the U.S. Reject tag from the stall. The District Veterinary Medical Specialist was notified through supervisory channels. This noncpompliance report is associated with a similar noncompliance report prepared on 6/9/23 regarding the same root cause (lack of water availability). This establishment operates under a Robust Systematic Approach to Livestock Humane Handling.

313.15(a)(1)

HATS Category VIII: Stunning Effectiveness, 9CFR313.15(a)(1) At approximately 1425 hours at North Cascades Meat Producers Co-Op, while observing stunning of a steer in the establishment’s cattle outdoor restraint squeeze chute with head catch, IPP observed the following. The establishment Lead Butcher attempted to stun the animal using a hand-held captive bolt (HHCB) device, but the steer remained standing. The animal was observed to be calm and still. A backup HHCB device was readily available and handed to the Lead Butcher. The second HHCB device was applied to the animal’s forehead and fired. The animal remained standing and did not vocalize or become agitated. The Lead Butcher retrieved a .22 magnum rifle which was readily available beside the cattle chute. The Lead Butcher utilized the rifle to immediately stun the animal which resulted in immediate signs of insensibility in the steer. The steer showed no eye movement upon palpation from the Lead Butcher, the animal did not vocalize, and breathing had ceased. The tongue was also observed to be hanging out of the animal’s mouth and the Establishment Slaughter Consultant performed an effective exsanguination before the animal was shackled or hoisted. U.S. Reject Tag B39028482 was applied to the bovine stun box. The Establishment HACCP Coordinator was verbally informed of the non-compliance. IPP noted during inspection of the skull that one hole was midline and another approximately 0.5” lower and 0.25” to the right of midline. Both holes were lower than the intersection of the theoretical lines between the medial canthus of the eye and the lateral edge of the horn. A third hole was approximately 0.25" right of midline and 1" above the intersection of the lines between the medial canthus of the eye and the lateral edge of the horn. The Frontline Supervisor was notified, and the Denver District Management Team was notified through supervisory channels. This noncompliance is associated with a Humane Handling noncompliance documented on 5/23/2023 (#IGN3913053023N) of same root cause. This establishment currently operates under a robust systematic approach to the humane handling and slaughter of livestock.

313.15(a)(1)

HATS Category VIII: Stunning Effectiveness, 9CFR313.15(a)(1) At approximately 1425 hours at North Cascades Meat Producers Co-Op, while observing stunning of a steer in the establishment’s cattle outdoor restraint squeeze chute with head catch, IPP observed the following. The establishment Lead Butcher attempted to stun the animal using a hand-held captive bolt (HHCB) device, but the steer remained standing. The animal was observed to be calm and still. A backup HHCB device was readily available and handed to the Lead Butcher. The second HHCB device was applied to the animal’s forehead and fired. The animal remained standing and did not vocalize or become agitated. The Lead Butcher retrieved a .22 magnum rifle which was readily available beside the cattle chute. The Lead Butcher utilized the rifle to immediately stun the animal which resulted in immediate signs of insensibility in the steer. The steer showed no eye movement upon palpation from the Lead Butcher, the animal did not vocalize, and breathing had ceased. The tongue was also observed to be hanging out of the animal’s mouth and the Establishment Slaughter Consultant performed an effective exsanguination before the animal was shackled or hoisted. U.S. Reject Tag B39028482 was applied to the bovine stun box. The Establishment HACCP Coordinator was verbally informed of the non-compliance. IPP noted during inspection of the skull that one hole was midline and another approximately 0.5” lower and 0.25” to the right of midline. Both holes were lower than the intersection of the theoretical lines between the medial canthus of the eye and the lateral edge of the horn. A third hole was approximately 0.25" right of midline and 1" above the intersection of the lines between the medial canthus of the eye and the lateral edge of the horn. The Frontline Supervisor was notified, and the Denver District Management Team was notified through supervisory channels. This noncompliance is associated with a Humane Handling noncompliance documented on 5/23/2023 (#IGN3913053023N) of same root cause. This establishment currently operates under a robust systematic approach to the humane handling and slaughter of livestock.

313.2

On 6/8/2023, at approximately 0805 while performing Humane Handling inspection of animals in their pens, IPP observed that swine did not have water available in their water bucket. The Establishment Consultant and Lead Butcher were informed of the issue. Water was immediately provided to the animals. This was found to be non-compliant with 9 CFR 313.2(e). This NR is associated with a Humane Handling non-compliance related to water accessibility on 5/9/2023.

313.16(a)(1),313.16(b)(1)(iii)

HATS Category VIII: Stunning Effectiveness, 9CFR313.16(a)(1), 9CFR313.16(b)(1)(iii) At approximately 10:30 at the North Cascade Meat Producers Co-Op, while observing stunning of a heifer in a head catch with a .22 Magnum rifle IPP observed the following. The establishment Lead Butcher prepared to stun the animal with a captive bolt, but the animal was too fractious. IPP noted that the heifer was slipping on the scored concrete while in the neck squeeze and at least once got its leg stuck under the gate on the side of the stun box. The decision was made to switch to the back-up rifle instead of a captive bolt. An initial ineffective stun attempt was fired from several steps back by the establishment Trainer/Contractor. The heifer showed a sign of blood on the forehead and remained standing. There was no vocalization from the animal and a second effective stun attempt was taken. The second stun resulted in the animal dropping to the ground; IPP noted no eye movement, no vocalization, and no righting response. The animal was then exsanguinated within several seconds of the establishment Lead Butcher confirming no signs of consciousness. A regulatory control action was not taken due to observation of immediate corrective action. The slaughter supervisory was verbally informed that a noncompliance record would be documented. IPP noted during inspection of the skull that both holes from stunning were midline. The first stun hole was 3 inches low from the target zone. The second shot was noted to be lower than the intersection of the lines between the medial canthus of the eye and the lateral edge of the horn, but the bullet entered the skull with an upward trajectory. The Denver District Management Team was notified through supervisory channels. There have been no noncompliance records issued for the same root cause in the past 90 days. The establishment operates under a robust systematic approach to humane handling of livestock.

313.2

On 5/9/2023, at approximately 0930, while observing animal handling between a holding pen to the chute and neck hold, a steer was observed to knock over the water in its pen. Another animal was observed to be locked in the pen and water was not immediately provided to the animal. IPP spoke with the HACCP Coordinator about practices for water availability and the establishment recognized that the Humane Handler had not re-filled the water bucket in a timely manner. The HACCP Coordinator then filled the water bucket and expressed that the topic would be addressed with employees at the end of the day meeting. This was found to be non-compliant with 9CFR 313.2(e). There are no associated NRs.

313.15(a)(3),313.16(b)(1)(iii),313.30(b)(3)

HATS Category VIII: Stunning Effectiveness While observing stunning operations at approximately 0917, the CSI and the SPHV observed a hog properly loaded into a chute (with built-in scale) with minimal excitement or discomfort by establishment personnel. A latch without a lock was applied to keep the hog inside the chute. At 0917, an establishment employee used an electric stun device which was set for the weight of the hog to stun the hog via placement of the device prongs behind the ears. The stun attempt was ineffective, and the hog remained standing and immediately started to vocalize after approximately one or two seconds of standing immobilization. The hog then began to move and kick within the chute and managed to break out of the rear of the chute by forcing the side of the chute outward, thereby unlatching the latch. The hog ran into the pen/stall next to the chute, where it had previously been housed. An establishment employee picked up the firearm that was waiting on the nearby shelf and applied a second stun attempt which effectively rendered the animal insensible. A regulatory control action was taken by tagging the chute and electrical stunning device with U.S. Reject tags B42101501 and B42101508, respectively. The sitting president of the establishment was verbally notified of the forthcoming non-compliance record. The circuit FLS and subsequently the Denver District Management Team was contacted through supervisory channels. The establishment had been operating within the abeyance period. The establishment was not operating with a robust systematic approach to humane handling. This noncompliance is being associated with NR #IGN4509114829N / 1 issued on 11/8/2022.

313.15(a)(3),313.30(a)(4),313.30(b)(3)

HATS Category IX: Return to Consciousness On November 8, 2022, while verifying stunning effectiveness at Est. M46010 I, an FLS, observed the electrical stunning of a market swine at approximately 0833 AM. The animal was unconscious after the electrical stun applied to the head and then the chest, an immediate follow up stun was applied with a handheld captive bolt device from behind the left ear, and a neck cut was made to initiate exsanguination. The animal was then dragged from the stun box via a hook in the mouth onto the adjacent concrete pad. After approximately 30 seconds the animal regained consciousness and rose to a standing position and walked approximately 50 feet away. The stun operator readily retrieved a backup 22 Mag rifle and applied a successful stun rendering the animal unconscious. I verbally notified the Sitting President of the establishment that I was rejecting the stun box at 0835 AM and applied U.S. Rejected Tag #B39028481. The Denver District Management Team was contacted through supervisory channels. The establishment had been operating within the abeyance period for a Notice of Suspension.