Prairie Meats, Inc.: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2024 (USDA)

313.15(a)(1)

At approximately 1310 hours, while performing a Livestock Humane Handling task observing HATS Category VIII (Stunning Effectiveness), I observed the following noncompliance. I was in the inspection office, which is directly adjacent to the slaughter floor, when I heard a steer in the restrainer loudly vocalizing and thrashing around. Upon entering the slaughter floor and approaching the restrainer, I observed the conscious animal on its knees, breathing rhythmically while vocalizing loudly, and tracking movement with its eyes. I did not observe the first application of the hand-held captive bolt (HHCB) gun, however the animal had blood on its face and nose. The establishment did not have a backup HHCB gun, and the usual operator was out on leave. I then observed the establishment employee make a second attempt to stun the animal using the same HHCB gun. The second stunning attempt was also ineffective. I observed the conscious animal still vocalizing, tracking eye movement, and attempting to climb out of the restrainer. When the establishment employee attempted a third time to stun the animal, the same HHCB gun made a clicking noise and did not go off. The establishment employee then re-cocked the HHCB gun and applied a stun that was effective and rendered the animal unconscious. This observation is noncompliant with 9CFR 313.15(a)(1). I applied a U.S. Rejected tag #B43041592 to the restrainer and notified the plant owner REDACTED that slaughter would be temporarily stopped and that I would be contacting district office through supervisory channels. Upon observation of the head at post-mortem inspection, three stunning holes were identified and clustered in the center of the forehead, approximately at the location of an X drawn between the base of the ears and eyes.