Fitch Ranch Artisan Meat Company: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2024 (USDA)

313.30(a)(3)

HATS Categories VIII: Stunning Effectiveness On Wednesday, April 10, 2024, at 0927 hours, I, the CSI, observed the following: While a market swine was restrained in the pig squeeze chute, the swine pushed its head out the front of the restraint and got stuck. The stun operator immediately applied the electrical current device to the swine behind its ears. When the stun operator removed the stunning device from the animal, the market swine began vocalizing. A second establishment employee told the stun operator to reapply the electrical current device to the market swine. The stun operator immediately reapplied the electrical current device. Once the second stun was applied behind the head, the market swine stopped vocalizing and was rendered insensible. The market swine was then bled, and the head was pushed back out of the restraint so establishment employees could shackle and hoist the swine. The market swine exhibited no rhythmic breathing, and eyes were not tracking while shackled and hoisted. US Retain tag #B27292565 was applied to the stun box. Establishment management was verbally notified of the forthcoming noncompliance record. The Denver District Management Team was notified through supervisory channels. There have been no noncompliance records issued in the past 90 days for the same root cause. This establishment cannot be considered robust while operating with the abeyance period for an enforcement action.

313.2

HATS Category II: Truck Unloading On Wednesday, February 21, 2024, I, the CSI, observed the following noncompliance(s): While the establishment was unloading a lame market swine from a livestock trailer at the secondary entrance into the alleyway, I observed an establishment employee grab the conscience market swine by its ears and drag the animal on its belly off of the trailer. The swine began vocalizing when it was grabbed by the ears. The gap or height the animal fell from the trailer to the concrete floor was approximately 10 inches. Once the market swine was out of the trailer and laying on the ground, the same establishment employee then grabbed the swine by its ears again and continued to drag the animal on its belly approximately 5 feet towards the alleyway and the swine sat up into a semi sitting position for approximately 3 feet while still being dragged by its ears. The swine was vocalizing while being dragged. Once in the alleyway, the market swine stood up on its own and walked away from the establishment employee. I applied U.S. Reject Tag # B27292556 to the stun box and alleyway and verbally notified the establishment owner of the noncompliance. The Denver District Management Team was notified via supervisory channels. There have been no noncompliance records issued for the same root cause in the past 90 days. This establishment has not implemented a robust systematic approach to the humane handling of livestock.”

313.2

HATS Category III Water and Feed Availability On Thursday, December 21, 2023, at 0823 hours, while performing a Humane Handling Verification task. I, the CSI, observed the following noncompliance: All troughs in pens with 12 cows in pens were empty or contained frozen water. Animals were held overnight with no access to water. Establishment manager was verbally notified of the noncompliance with 9 CFR 313.2 (e). No regulatory control action was taken as the establishment immediately performed corrective actions upon notification. A 90-day review showed no other noncompliance of this origin or nature.

313.15(a)(1)

HATS Category VIII: Stunning Effectiveness On Wednesday, December 20, 2023, at approximately 0818 hours, I, the CSI, observed the following event: I observed the establishment employee use a hand-held captive bolt (HHCB) device to attempt to stun a beef cow. The employee contacted the cow with the stunning device, but the cow remained conscious and was still standing with eyes tracking and rhythmic breathing. The employee did not retrieve the backup HHCB device but instead began to reloading the HHCB device he had just used. A second employee came up to the stun box and retrieved the back-up HHCB device and applied a second stun attempt to the cow rendering it unconscious. A regulatory control action was taken. USDA Retained tag #B27292554 was placed on the stun box. Upon inspection of the dressed head, two penetrating stun holes were observed. Establishment manager was verbally notified of the forthcoming noncompliance record. 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. This establishment has not implemented a robust systematic approach to the humane handling of livestock.

313.30(a)(3)

HATS Category VIII: Stunning Effectiveness On December 12, 2023, at 0952 hours, I, the CSI, observed the following event: I observed the establishment employee calmly drive the market swine into the stun box and then wet the swine. I observed the establishment employee place the electrical current tongs close to the shoulders and apply the first stun attempt. When the electrical current was discharged, the swine started to vocalize. The electrical current was applied for 6 seconds, and the employee removed the tongs from the swine. The swine continued to vocalize and while down on its belly started to crawl away from the establishment employee. The establishment employee immediately applied the second stun attempt with the same electrical current device behind the ears at the base of the skull, which rendered the swine unconscious, the establishment employee then applied a security stun to the heart. The swine stopped vocalizing, eyes were not tracking, and there was no rhythmic breathing. I observed the swine to remain unconscious throughout the shackling, hoisting and bleeding process. USDA Retained Tag #B27292555 was applied to the stun box and the establishment owner was verbally notified of the noncompliance. 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 not implemented a Robust Systematic Approach to the Humane Handling of Livestock.