Smithfield Fresh Meats Corp.: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2025 (USDA)

313.2

At approximately 1049 hours while verifying HATS category IV, I (Dr. REDACTED) observed the following humane handling noncompliance. I observed a long cart containing two live hogs placed along the wall of the outermost walkway on A-side. The hogs had no access to water, and there was no one with the hogs at the time. The long carts are used to transport live hogs from the NSIS subject pens to the carbon dioxide chambers (REDACTED). I found Mr. REDACTED and took him to the location. When we arrived, Mr. REDACTED was there and about to move the hogs to the REDACTED. According to Mr. REDACTED, he had left the long cart with the hogs here while he completed another task. I notified Mr. REDACTED of the establishment's failure to comply with 9 CFR 313.2(e). Mr. REDACTED had the two hogs captive bolted and discarded. As preventive measures, management elected to retrain all employees responsible for moving live hogs in the long carts to never leave the hogs attended and transport the hogs to the REDACTED as soon as the cart is loaded. Retraining will occur on all shifts

313.15(a)(3)

At 13:05 on June 11, 2025, the SPHV was over by the North REDACTED stunner watching animals being loaded into the REDACTED gondola for stunning and saw the antemortem CSI summoning him over to the hog bleeding area. Upon arrival there, REDACTED (Harvest Superintendent) was seen there, directing two of his employees to use captive bolts to stun some hogs. The CSI reported that he had seen five consecutive animals showing signs of regaining consciousness. Mr. REDACTED went to check the CO2 levels in the REDACTED and found the CO2 levels to be very good—93%. Mr. REDACTED said he thought maybe the line had been stopped and some hogs didn’t get stunned with the captive bolt quick enough to prevent the hogs from starting to regain consciousness, but he said he had it under control now. The SPHV went to notify the District Office management team and returned to find that the establishment had already ceased all slaughter activities. The SPHV then handed Mr. REDACTED a US Rejected tag No. B46531501 to prevent any further slaughter activity until the cause of the incident and the establishment’s corrective actions to prevent return to consciousness going forward could be determined. Shortly before 15:30 the establishment learned that a glitch in an electrical substation in South Dakota had caused momentary loss of power to the central motor control center for both REDACTED stunners. When power was restored, the central motor control center started the CO2 evacuation fans for both REDACTED to start evacuating CO2 from the stunners. Thus, a few of the hogs did not get enough CO2. To finish out the day, the establishment proposed that they would place an electrician at the REDACTED central motor control panel, two trained captive bolt operators at the table, REDACTED, and REDACTED, (Humane Handling Specialist), at the stunning area, with instructions for all of them to remain in position, ready to handle unexpected incidents and prevent return to consciousness from 15:30 until the end of the shift. When the SPHV saw everyone in place, the tag was removed to allow slaughter activities to resume.

313.2

At approximately 0833 I, Dr. REDACTED was at B-side live receiving where semi-truck size trailers of live pigs are unloaded. There are three unloading docks with pens large enough to hold an entire trailer load of hogs. All three pens were in use. The pigs in one of the pens had just been moved out and I checked the metal drinking water nipples inside the pen and found there was no water. The water is piped along the sides of the pens, with drinking nipples attached periodically and hanging down along the pen wall. I checked several water nipples in each of the three pens. There was no water available in any of the three pens. I stopped truck unloading and requested a supervisor. Supervisor REDACTED arrived and made a phone call. He then went to the main overhead on/off valve and turned it to the “on” position. I verified that water was restored to all three pens. Because the on/off switch for the water is over head and cannot be reached without a ladder or an implement to extend a person’s reach, it could not be turned off accidentally. Mr. REDACTED did not know how or why the water was turned off and at the time of this writing it has not been determined. Mr. REDACTED gave me as a preventative that supervisors, maintenance personnel, and live receiving personnel on all three shifts will be retrained on expectations (live receiving are not to turn off the water and if they find it off, they will notify supervision). Maintenace personnel who turn off water for repairs/maintenance will not open the unloading lane for use until a supervisor has verified that the water is available. He stated training for first shift personnel has been completed, second shift personnel will be completed later today, and third shift will be done by Thursday (1/2/25) because they will not be working tonight due to the holiday. Truck unloading recommenced at 0845.

313.5

HATS Category VI- Electric Prod/Alternative Object Use At approximately 10:25am, while performing a livestock humane handling task, Dr. REDACTED observed the following non-compliance. As market hogs were being brought into the final straight alley to the REDACTED, the slide gate was closed behind them. A hog jumped up on the slide gate with its two front feet and head hanging over the gate. As the overhead push gate came back to get the hogs, it pinned the head and front two feet of the hog between the overhead push gate and slide gate. The hog started vocalizing. Plant personnel immediately stunned the entrapped hog with a handheld captive bolt gun, rendering it insensible on the first stunning attempt. Regulatory control was taken over the area, and animal movement was halted in the alleyway. After further planned corrective actions were conveyed to FSIS, regulatory control was relinquished. This is non-compliant with regulations 9 CFR 313.5(a)(2) and 313.5(b)(2). Livestock Coordinator REDACTED was notified of the non-compliance.

313.2,313.5

On November 13, 2024, at approximately 1438 hours, while conducting Verification Plan Inspection Task #4: Monitoring at the south REDACTED I, SPHV REDACTED observed an establishment employee on the northwestern side of the REDACTED attempt to alert the REDACTED operator of a down hog in the final staging area that loads into the gondola basket. I moved closer to the area and observed a sitting hog near the northwest corner of the final staging area. Despite repeated attempts to alert the REDACTED operator of the sitting hog by the establishment employee, the gate was activated. I observed the gate contact and move the sitting hog 1-2 feet, causing the top half of the hog (head and shoulders) to fall into the gondola basket before the gate was retracted. Once retracted, establishment employees were able to successfully encourage the hog to rise utilizing rattle paddles. The gate was then activated and all hogs were humanely handled on all four limbs while being guided into the gondola basket. At approximately 1439 hours, I notified Harvest Superintendent REDACTED of the noncompliance. This observation fails to meet the regulatory requirements of 9 CFR 313.2(d)2 and 313.5(a)(2). This noncompliance is being associated with NR# TAE1811091519N dated September 19, 2024. The establishment’s previous preventive measures were ineffective or not implemented.