Washington Beef, LLC: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2023 (USDA)
See the detail of the non-compliance of humane livestock handling that the USDA observed at the Washington Beef, LLC slaughterhouse establishment in 2023.
You can also see other establishments that were non-compliant in 2023.
313.15(a)(1)
HATS CATEGORY VIII- Stunning Effectiveness On Thursday, September 21, 2023, at approximately 1228 hours, while conducting a livestock humane handling verification task, I, the CSI, observed the following regulatory non-compliance. I observed the stun operator perform a stunning attempt with a hand-held captive bolt device at the stun box on a black bovine while a second employee was operating the controls of the restrainer. The captive bolt device discharged but the bovine remained conscious. The animal did not vocalize and remained calm; however, the animal still had eyes tracking while moving its head up at the employee operating the captive bolt device and then down and away from the employee. The captive bolt device remained lodged in the front of the bovine’s head. The stun operator immediately pulled the captive bolt device out of the bovine’s head, and then reloaded the device for a second stun attempt while the animal was still in the stun box, which effectively rendered the bovine immediately insensible. No regulatory control action was taken due to the immediate and effective corrective actions observed. I followed the carcass through the slaughter process until it reached the head station where the head was removed from the processing chain and placed at the USDA disposition station for further inspection. The SPHV and I inspected the dressed head and observed only one penetrating stun hole. The Plant Superintendent and QA Manager were verbally notified of the above noncompliance. The District Veterinary Medical Specialist was notified through supervisory channels. This NR is being associated with NR# TQK2307063909N issued on 06/08/2023 for same root cause.
313.15(a)(1)
HATS CATEGORY VIII – Stunning Effectiveness On Thursday, July 12th, 2023, at approximately 1215 hours, while observing stunning at the stun box as part of a routine Livestock Humane Handling task, I, the SPHV, observed the following noncompliance. A black bovine baulked at the entrance to the restrainer and after multiple attempts of refusing to enter, slaughter management elected to stun the bovine in the single-file serpentine. The outside door to the serpentine was closed thereby confining the bovine alone in the inside portion of the serpentine. The stun operator brought two preloaded handheld captive bolt devices over to the serpentine and applied a first stunning attempt to the bovine. I observed the bovine throw up its head and collapse but remain conscious, the eyes were tracking and the animal was breathing heavily. The bovine was able to stand back up and the stun operator immediately applied a second effective stun using the second preloaded handheld captive bolt device. A regulatory control action was not taken due to the observation of immediate and effective corrective actions. At the head inspection station two penetrating holes were observed in the skull at the center of the forehead. After splitting the skull it was observed that the bolt did not penetrate the cranial cavity on the first stun. I verbally notified the Processing Manager of the forthcoming noncompliance record (NR). The District Veterinary Medical Specialist was notified through supervisory channels. There have been no noncompliance records issued within the past 90 days for same root cause. Washington Beef operates under a Robust Systematic Approach (RSA) Humane Handling Program.
313.15(a)(1)
HATS CATEGORY VIII – Stunning Effectiveness On Thursday, June 8th, 2023, at approximately 1241 hours, while observing stunning at the stun box as part of a routine Livestock Humane Handling task, I, the SPHV, observed the following noncompliance. The employee operating the pneumatic captive bolt device applied a first stunning attempt to a black bovine in the restrainer. The captive bolt device discharged but the bovine remained conscious, the eyes were tracking, and it was breathing heavily. The stun operator readily applied a second stun using a preloaded handheld captive bolt device kept at the restrainer and the bovine was immediately rendered insensible. A regulatory control action was not taken due to the observation of immediate and effective corrective actions. At the bleed rail I observed two penetrating holes in the hide. The Processing Manager and I followed the head to the inspection station, two holes were observed, one in high near the poll and one centered in the forehead. I verbally notified the Processing Manager of the forthcoming noncompliance record (NR). The District Veterinary Medical Specialist was notified through supervisory channels. This NR is being associated with NR# TQK2816033730N dated March 30, 2023, for the same root cause. Washington Beef operates under a RSA Humane Handling Program.
313.15(a)(1)
HATS CATEGORY VIII – Stunning Effectiveness On Thursday, March 30, 2023, at approximately 1245 hours, while observing stunning at the stun box as part of a routine Livestock Humane Handling task, I, the SPHV, observed the following noncompliance. The employee operating the pneumatic captive bolt device applied a first stunning attempt to a black heifer in the restrainer. The captive bolt device discharged but the bovine remained conscious. The heifer slightly shook its head and was breathing heavily. The stun operator readily applied a second stun using a preloaded handheld captive bolt device kept at the restrainer and the heifer was immediately rendered insensible. A regulatory control action was not taken due to the observation of immediate and effective corrective actions. At the bleed rail I observed two penetrating holes in the hide, one was low in the center, and another was higher and to the right side. After hide removal two penetrating holes in the skull were observed. The head was removed from the line at the head inspection station, and I showed it to the Processing Superintendent. I verbally notified the Processing Superintendent of the forthcoming noncompliance record (NR). The District Veterinary Medical Specialist was notified through supervisory channels. This NR is being associated with NR# TQK2012035907N dated March 7, 2023, for same root cause. Washington Beef operates under a RSA Humane Handling Program.
313.15(a)(1)
HATS CATEGORY VIII – Stunning Effectiveness On Tuesday, March 7, 2023, at approximately 0920 hours, while observing stunning at the stun box as part of a routine Livestock Humane Handling task, I, the SPHV, observed the following noncompliance. The employee operating the pneumatic captive bolt device applied a first stunning attempt to a black bovine in the restrainer. The captive bolt device discharged but the bovine remained conscious. The animal vocalized, shook its head, and was breathing heavily. The stun operator readily applied a second stun using a preloaded handheld captive bolt device kept at the restrainer and the bovine was immediately rendered insensible. A regulatory control action was not taken due to the observation of immediate and effective corrective actions. At the bleed rail I observed two penetrating holes in the hide. One hole was located just above the right eye, and on palpation was observed to penetrate tissue and fat but not enter the skull. A second stun hole was observed in the forehead, penetrating the skull. The Processing Supervisor was in the bleed rail area and observed the two holes in the hide. I verbally notified the Processing Manager of the forthcoming noncompliance record (NR), and the head was again examined prior to hide removal. The District Veterinary Medical Specialist was notified through supervisory channels. This NR is being associated with NR# TQK2616022328N dated February 28, 2023, for same root cause. Washington Beef operates under a RSA Humane Handling Program.
313.15(a)(1)
On Tuesday, February 28, 2023, at approximately 0847 hours, while conducting a livestock humane handling verification task, I, the CSI, observed the following regulatory non-compliance. I observed the stun operator perform a stunning attempt with a pneumatic captive bolt device at the stun box on a red bovine. The pneumatic captive bolt device discharged but the bovine remained conscious as the bolt contacted the animal too high up on the forehead. The animal did not vocalize and remained calm; however, the animal still had eyes tracking while looking up at the employee operating the pneumatic captive bolt device. The stun operator immediately utilized the same device for a second stun attempt while the animal was still in the stun box, which effectively rendered the bovine immediately insensible. No regulatory control action was taken due to the immediate and effective corrective actions observed. I followed the carcass through the slaughter process until it reached the head station where the head was removed from the processing chain and placed at the USDA disposition station for further inspection. The FLS and I inspected the dressed head and verified two stun holes. One of which was observed to be approximately two inches above the target area and did not penetrate into the cranial cavity and one in the center of the forehead penetrating the cranial cavity. The Plant Manager was verbally notified of the forthcoming noncompliance record (NR) for the above non-compliance. The District Veterinary Medical Specialist was notified through supervisory channels. This NR is being associated with NR# TQK1413022124N issued on 01/26/2023 for same root cause. The establishment’s further planned actions/corrective measures, which was extra audits, were either not implemented or were ineffective in preventing recurrence of the non-compliance.
313.15(a)(1)
HATS CATEGORY VIII – Stunning Effectiveness On Thursday, January 26, 2023, at approximately 1223 hours, while observing stunning at the stun box as part of a routine Livestock Humane Handling task, I, the SPHV, observed the following noncompliance. The employee operating the pneumatic captive bolt device applied a first stunning attempt to a black bovine in the restrainer. The captive bolt device discharged but the bovine remained conscious. I observed the animal shakes its head, and look around, the eyes were tracking, and it was calm. The stun operator readily applied a second effective stun that rendered the bovine immediately insensible. A regulatory control action was not taken due to the observation of immediate corrective actions. The Processing Supervisor and I followed the head to the USDA inspection area where it was pulled off the line and inspected. There were two penetrating holes in the skull were close together, the larger of the two was observed to angle up toward the pole. The Processing Supervisor was verbally notified of the forthcoming Noncompliance Record (NR). There has been one NR written in the previous 90 days with same root cause; the first stunning attempt failed to render the animal unconscious. This NR is associated with NR# TQK4509115704N dated November 3rd, 2022. The District Veterinary Medical Specialist was notified. Washington Beef has a written RSA Humane Handling Program.
313.15(a)(1)
HATS Category VIII – Stunning Effectiveness On Thursday, November 3rd, 2022, at approximately 1230 hours, while observing stunning at the stun box as part of a routine Livestock Humane Handling task, I, the SPHV, observed the following noncompliance. The employee operating the pneumatic captive bolt device applied a first stunning attempt to a black bovine in the restrainer. The captive bolt device discharged but the bovine remained conscious, shaking its head, and looking around. The stun operator immediately applied a second stun with the preloaded hand-held captive bolt device, which was readily available at the stun box. The second stun immediately rendered the bovine insensible. At the stun box, I observed two holes in the hide but palpated only one penetrating hole in the skull. The dressed head was pulled off the line after hide removal and one overly large penetrating hole was observed in the center of the forehead. The Slaughter Manager immediately had the pneumatic captive bolt device removed by maintenance. The QA Manager was verbally notified of the forthcoming Noncompliance Record (NR). There has been one NR written in the previous 90 days with same root cause; the first stunning attempt failed to render the animal immediately insensible. This NR is associated with NR# TQK3814105819N dated 10/19/22.
313.15(a)(1)
HATS CATEGORY VIII – Stunning Effectiveness On Wednesday, October 19th, 2022, at approximately 1215 hours, while observing stunning at the stun box as part of a routine Livestock Humane Handling task, I, the SPHV, observed the following noncompliance. The employee operating the pneumatic captive bolt device applied a first stunning attempt to the heifer in the restrainer. The captive bolt device discharged but the heifer remained conscious. I observed the heifer shake her head and look around, the eyes were tracking, and she was breathing heavily. The stun operator readily applied a second stun that rendered the heifer immediately insensible. I took a regulatory control action by verbally halting stunning and calling a supervisor to the area. The heifer’s head was inspected, and two penetrating holes were observed in the skull. Processing Supervisor was informed of the ineffective stun and forthcoming noncompliance record (NR), the stun box was then released to resume slaughter operations. The Processing Manager was also verbally notified of the noncompliance. Washington Beef has a written RSA Humane Handling Program and there have been no NRs with similar root cause issued in the last 90 days.
