Verschoor Meats, Inc.: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2023 (USDA)

313.15(a)(3)

At approximately 1105 hours, while providing official breaks to the inspectors, I noticed a single hog walking around the kill floor. I immediately took regulatory control action by verbally stopping production. Upon inspection, the animal had a noticeable injury on the forehead (noticeable area in forehead shown to be a non-penetrating knock, and a line of blood from that area down the face of the animal down to the snout) that was obviously caused by a penetrating bolt stun attempt. Upon my observation this animal was conscious and mobile. The animal was approximately 20 yards from the restraining area. I notified and showed kill floor manager REDACTED and owner REDACTED of my observations. Establishment employees worked to corral and capture the animal. Approximately 10 min elapsed from the time I observed the mobile hog until it’s capture in an adjacent room. When the hog was caught, a stun was attempted with a hand-held captive bolt (HHCB) stunner. Following this stun attempt, the animal collapsed but remained conscious. The animal had tracking eye movement to sounds and nearby movement and was blinking in response to stimuli. An additional stun attempt was made with a HHCB stunner. The animal remained conscious. The animal continued to have coordinated tracking eye movement to sounds and movement in the area and was blinking in response to stimuli. The establishment HHCB operator did not have additional cartridges, and after a brief delay, was able to retrieve more. A third stun attempt with the HHCB from the time I took regulatory control action, and successfully rendered the animal insensible. Immediately upon seeing the mobile hog out of the restraining area at 1105hrs, I told Kill floor Manager REDACTED and Owner REDACTED that stunning was suspended, and I placed US Rejected tags NO. B-32055001, -5002 across the alleys to the restrainer. This incident represents noncompliance with 9CFR 313.15(a)(1) . I informed Owner of Est. 363 REDACTED that the incident would be documented on a noncompliance report, and I would be contacting the district office through supervisory channels for further guidance. At this time, a suspension is in place and production is halted pending District Office acceptance of corrective actions given by the company.