StarHarvest Co. LLC: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2024 (USDA)

313.15(a)(1)

HATS Category 8: Stunning effectiveness On Thursday, 1August2024, at approximately 1230 hours, the SPHV approached the stunning area to observe stunning effectiveness. The SPHV observed the cow walk into the stun box and the head and chin restraints applied. The SPHV observed the stun operator discharge the hand-held captive bolt (.25 caliber HHCB) device in the center of the cow’s forehead squarely between the eyes. The cow remained standing, looked around, and vocalized as blood flowed from the penetrating stun entrance. The stun operator did not realize he had ineffectively stunned the animal and put the HHCB down, and the establishment QC, Sticker, and one more kill floor employee observed the ineffective stun and instructed the stun operator to apply another stun. The stun operator looked at the SPHV. At that point the SPHV told the stun operator that the animal was still conscious and that the cow needed to be stunned again. Initially, the stun operator positioned the backup HHCB device in the same location on the head, but the Sticker and SPHV told the stun operator to move higher. The stun operator moved the contact point toward the poll about three inches and discharged the HHCB device, and the animal was successfully rendered unconscious. Afterwards, the stun operator still didn’t understand that the animal was conscious after the first stun and asked the SPHV what had happened. The SPHV told the stun operator that the cow was still very much conscious after the first stun attempt. The SPHV and stun operator quickly discussed the signs of consciousness that the SPHV observed and checked the cow’s reflexes together, both agreeing that the cow was unconscious. The SPHV rejected the stun box with USDA reject tag B-45025336 and verbally informed the QC that the establishment could continue to process the already stunned animals, but IPP needed to discuss this incident with the Denver District Office before the establishment proceeded to stun the remaining two live animals. The plant owner was notified of the forthcoming noncompliance record for failure to comply with 9CFR313.15(a)(1) and 9CFR313.15(b)(1)(iv). The Denver District Management Team was contacted through supervisory channels. There have been no noncompliance records issued since the start of operations on 6/3/2024 for the same root cause. This establishment has implemented a robust systematic approach to the humane handling of livestock. The verbal corrective actions from the establishment are to rework their stunning protocol including HHCB placement and reflexes, retrain the stun operator, and to automatically do a security stun – regardless if the animal needs it or not – on every animal. The establishment plans on slaughtering tomorrow after FSIS accepts the written corrective actions and will be utilizing two other experienced trained employees until this stun operator is retrained.