Valley Beef, Inc.: Non-Compliance to Humane Livestock Handling in 2025 (USDA)

313.1

HATS Category IV: Ante-mortem Inspection HATS Category VII: Slips and Falls At approximately 10:25am the SPHV was conducting antemortem inspection on a group of cows within the indoor holding pens. The SPHV observed an establishment employee attempting to remove hobbles off of one cow in the center pen. The cow circled the pen for approximately 2-3 minutes with the establishment employee trying to remove hobbles multiple times. On one attempt to remove the hobbles, the cow stepped forward onto a collection of wash hoses sitting on the floor. The hoses rolled causing the cow to slip and fall, landing on the concrete floor on her sternum. The establishment employee immediately backed off and allowed the cow to stand again on her own. The establishment employee then moved the animal to another area in the pen, away from the hoses and removed the hobbles. No regulatory control action was taken due to the observed immediate and effective corrective actions taken by establishment personnel. The SPHV contacted the acting FLS and DVMS. The SPHV verbally notified the slaughter supervisor of the event and that a noncompliance record (NR) would be issued. There have been no noncompliance records issued in the past 90 days for the same root cause. This establishment maintains a robust systematic approach to the humane handling of livestock.