New England Wagyu, LLC: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2025 (USDA)

313.2

HATS Category III - Water and Feed Availability (9 CFR 313.2(e)) At approximately 2 PM on Tuesday, 9 September 2025, I walked out from the slaughter floor to the holding pens, where sixteen pigs had been held since the previous afternoon. That morning, during ante-mortem inspection, I had observed an employee deliver a bucket of water to these pigs; it had been mounted on a hook attached to the wall, about 18 inches above the ground. However, during my second visit to the pens, it was clear that the pigs had not had access to water in at least several hours: the bucket attached to the wall was empty and a thin layer of dry sediment had collected at the bottom. Because at the time of observation there was no water accessible to the pigs being held in the holding pens, and because the water provided for these animals in the morning was not sufficient to meet the regulatory criteria over the course of a single day, the establishment is in noncompliance with 9 CFR 313.2(e). This regulation states that livestock "shall have access to water in all holding pens" (and that feed is to be provided for animals held longer than 24 hours). In FSIS Directive 6900.2, "access to water" is interpreted as "access to water [at all times]". I immediately informed REDACTED, a slaughter floor employee, and REDACTED, interim manager, of the noncompliance, and watched as REDACTED refilled the water buckets. The establishment has developed a robust systematic approach to humane handling; however, monitoring of the robust system was ineffective. The establishment's written humane handling program for swine states that animals be given access to "clean water" and that, 'when weather permits, pigs are [to be] watered with automatic water.' The establishment did not have an automatic watering system for pigs in place during the period of observation, and so was not following its own humane handling program. No associations were found with other noncompliance records issued within the last ninety days at the establishment.