Meat Processing Career Center: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2025 (USDA)
See the detail of the non-compliance of humane livestock handling that the USDA observed at the Meat Processing Career Center slaughterhouse establishment in 2025.
You can also see other establishments that were non-compliant in 2025.
313.15(a)(1)
On 02/4/2025 at approximately 9:45 am, while on the kill floor observing and verifying HATS Category VIII Stunning Effectiveness, I, DVMO REDACTED, observed the following non-compliances. When the heifer was held in the head catch of the knock box, I observed the stunning operator discharge the handheld captive bolt gun into its forehead. The heifer remained standing, blinking, and conscious. The backup stunning personnel, who was standing at the knock box, immediately used the pneumatic captive bolt gun and placed a shot in the heifer’s forehead, rendering it unconscious, limp, and insensible to pain. A security stun was then administered, and the floor personnel checked the corneal reflex. The skull was skinned and checked afterwards. There were three penetrating knock holes in the skull on midline in the target area, with the most rostral knock hole angled forward into the sinuses. Both the caudal knock holes entered the braincase. I informed Supervisor REDACTED (stunning operator) immediately of the noncompliance and the forthcoming NR and took regulatory control over the stunning process until corrective actions were proffered. Mr. REDACTED informed me that he was unfamiliar with the trigger weight of the handheld captive bolt gun, which resulted in a delayed discharge and an ineffective stunning attempt. He switched to another handheld captive bolt device, and I removed regulatory control over the slaughter process and allowed slaughter to resume. At approximately 10:15 am, the next heifer entered the knock box and was restrained in the head catch. Using the new handheld captive bolt gun, Mr. REDACTED administered the first stunning attempt. The discharge noise was noticeably muffled. The attempt was ineffective, and the heifer remained standing and concious, began to struggle against the head catch, and vocalized twice. The backup stunning personnel, who was standing at the knock box, immediately administered a successful stun with the pneumatic captive bolt gun, followed swiftly by a security knock. The skull was checked, and I was able to identify three penetrating knock holes in close grouping on midline in the target area, though the most rostral knock hole did not penetrate deep enough to enter the braincase. The plant manager REDACTED was informed of the forthcoming noncompliance due to the observations described above. The establishment was not compliant with 9 CFR 313.15(a)(1).
