Hoagland Enterprises, LLC: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2024 (USDA)

313.15(a)(1)

HATS Category VIII: Stunning Effectiveness On April 12, 2024, at approximately 0815 hours I observed a beef cow being stunned with a hand-held captive bolt (HHCB) device in the stun box utilizing the head catch. The first stun attempt caused the animal to vocalize but it remained standing, blinking and rhythmically breathing with steam coming out of its nose. The stun operator immediately attempted to stun the cow again with the readily available backup HHCB device and the cow continued to remain conscious and now had blood coming out of the nose. As no further action was being taken by establishment personnel, I verbally informed the stun operator and establishment owner that the animal had to be rendered unconscious and once again the stun operator proceeded to attempt to stun the animal a third time with the primary HHCB device in the same location on the head with the same unsuccessful result. A fourth stunning attempt was made after switching to the backup HHCB device with the same unsuccessful result. All four times that the animal was stunned it remained standing, rhythmically breathing and blinking with eyes tracking, but it did not continue to vocalize although I continued to observe blood coming out of the nose. I again verbally intervened and informed the stun operator and the establishment owner that where they were applying the stuns to the animal wasn’t being effective at rendering the animal insensible. For the fifth stun attempt the employee prompted the animal to move away from the head catch and applied the primary HHCB device stun attempt to the back of the head (poll), which effectively rendered the animal unconscious. Once the animal’s head was removed, I initially observed two penetrating stun holes on the hide and on the skull itself. Once removed, the impressions on the hide also demonstrated that the four (4) HHCB entries to the hide were consistent with the holes in the skull. The measurements depth on the front of the bovine skull was 4 3⁄4 inches and it measured 1 inch in diameter. Upon investigation on the front hole on the skull it appeared that four (4) stun attempts were made as the hole had signs of entry where the captive gun went in again and again in the same location. After measuring the skull from ear to eye on both sides it showed that the hole was 5mm below the center. A regulatory control action was taken on the stun box with U.S. Reject tag #B37353588 and the Denver District Office was notified through supervisory channels. The establishment owner was verbally notified of the forthcoming noncompliance. There have been no noncompliance records issued within the past 90 days for the same root cause. This establishment currently does not implement a robust systematic approach to the humane handling of livestock.