Copper City Meats, DBA Gold Medal Packing: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2024 (USDA)

313.2

HATS Category V – Handling of Suspect and Disabled At approximately 1000 hour on 10/17/2023, while completing a humane handling task in the pens at Copper City Meats (M17965) the following noncompliance was observed. The CSI witnessed an establishment employee drag a bob veal by the two hind legs between 6 and 8 feet from pen 5 halfway into pen 4. At the time of the incident, the bob veal calf could be observed breathing, had coordinated eye movement, and could move its tongue. The CSI stopped the employee immediately and asked if the bob veal was dead or had been previously stunned. The establishment employee replied “no”. The plant manager was then informed, and he removed the offending plant employee from the building. The calf was appropriately stunned and bled under the supervision of the IPP by a trained plant employee. U.S. Condemn tag #Z10108099 was applied to the calf. This is a failure of CFR 313.2(d)(2) ‘The dragging of disabled animals and other animals unable to move, while conscious, is prohibited.’ The ramp to the knockbox was tagged with U.S. Reject Tag #B43765004. While the plant has a robust systematic approach to humane handling, it was not being implemented properly as the plant employee was not appropriately trained to recognize signs of consciousness.