Wyoming Ranch Foods, 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 Wyoming Ranch Foods, LLC slaughterhouse establishment in 2023.
You can also see other establishments that were non-compliant in 2023.
313.1,313.2
HATS Category IV: Ante-mortem Inspection/Facilities HATS Category VI: Electric Prod/Alternative Object Use At approximately 1:10PM, I, the SPHV was verifying the humane handling task and observed the following. I was performing ante-mortem inspection on a 3-legged ambulatory (non-weight bearing on left rear limb) bovine on 8/1/2023. As the establishment owner attempted to drive the animal from the holding pens to the stun box, the bovine stopped in the alleyway and circled around to return to the holding pens. I observed a large puddle (approximately 30’x10’) of standing water spanning the width of the alleyway that accumulated deep enough to cover the hooves of the cattle. For approximately twenty minutes I observed the establishment owner repeatedly whip the animal with a sorting stick with a flag on the end and twist the tail to the left in an attempt to guide the animal along the alleyway to the stun box. During this time the animal was charging at the owner while non-weight bearing on the left rear limb, vocalizing and circling around to return to the holding pens each time it approached the standing water. No regulatory control action was taken. I verbally informed the establishment owner that a noncompliance record (NR) would be forthcoming. The conditions of the pens was brought up in the following MOIs: SLS4109055826E 5/26/2023, SLS0614055419E 5/19/2023, SLS2009051905E 5/5/2023. The Denver District Management Team was notified through supervisory channels. There have been no noncompliance records issued for the same root cause within the past 90 days. This establishment has implemented a robust systematic approach to the humane handling and slaughter of livestock.
