Humane Interactive Knowledge Exchange (HIKE) Scenario
The Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act of 1978 [7 USC 1901 – 1906]
states that the handling and
slaughtering of livestock are to be carried out
only by humane methods. The Federal Meat Inspection
Act [21 USC 601 et
seq.] authorizes Federal Meat Inspectors to inspect, verify compliance, and
enforce humane methods of handling and slaughtering of livestock so as to
prevent needless suffering of animals. FSIS
inspection personnel verify that an
establishment is meeting these requirements by performing procedure 04C02 daily,
and recording the results on the procedure schedule for each inspection shift.
The following references
should be used when studying this HIKE:
· Humane
Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act of 1978 (FSIS Directive 6900.2 – Attachment
1)
· Title
9 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 313
(Humane Slaughter of Livestock) and 500
(Rules of Practice)
· FSIS
Directive 6900.1, Revision
1 - Humane Handling of Disabled Livestock
· FSIS
Directive 6900.2 – Humane Handling
and Slaughter of Livestock
· FSIS
Notice 50-02 - ISP Procedure Code
for Humane Slaughter
HIKE
01-04
You are the IIC of a cull cow and bull slaughter and
processing establishment. Slaughter operations
have been working overtime, including Saturdays, to meet the increased
production demand, and
the establishment is having difficulty with finding enough pen space to hold
animals needed for a
ten hour slaughter day.
One morning, as you arrive at the livestock holding area to
perform ante-mortem inspection,
you observe that two of the alleyways leading to the holding pens contain 12-15
cattle that have
been left in these improvised pens overnight. You observe these animals a
few minutes and
realize that they can not reach the water troughs in the adjacent holding pens,
and drinking water
has not been provided by other temporary means.
As the IIC, you need to determine whether a noncompliance
has occurred and consider what actions need to be pursued, if any, at this time.
You determine that a noncompliance exists with respect
to regulation 9 CFR 313.2(e); access to water had not been provided to these
animals (The alleyways were closed and animals were placed inside; therefore,
the alleyways became holding pens. The
cited regulation requires access to drinking water in all holding pens).
You inform plant management
of the noncompliance, and their immediate corrective action is to fill several
buckets with water
and place them in the alley where the cattle can reach them. Verbally, the barn
foreman informs
you that the preventative measures that will be taken to ensure that all animals
have access to
water is to provide barrels of water for animals in an alley which will be
secured by chains to
prevent the barrels from being tipped over. Additionally, a receiving log
will be implemented so
that the plant employee(s) who receives cattle must document that water was
provided to the
animals penned in the alleyways.
You write a Noncompliance Record (NR) using 04C02 task code and the
“Protocol” trend indicator
(FSIS Notice 50-02), citing the appropriate regulation, 9 CFR 313.2(e), and send
a copy of the completed NR to the District Office along with the
establishment’s corrective actions and
preventative measures.
The following day you arrive at the barn and notice that
animals have again been penned in the alleyways. You view the alleyways and see
that filled barrels of drinking water have been placed
in the improvised pens, and you observe a notation in the receiving log that the
receiving employee documented that water was provided to the animals in the
alley. You conclude that the animals in
the alley have adequate access to water as required by 9 CFR 313.2(e).
Conclusion:
The plant employee who was responsible for unloading and
penning the cattle was unaware that the cattle that he penned in the alleyways
did not have access to water. Under normal circumstances,
the establishment has adequate pen space to accommodate all the cattle
slaughtered in a production day and these pens have permanent watering troughs.
The establishment was informed, regardless of the circumstance, that they
are required to actively monitor both the animals’ environment and
their handling procedures to assure regulatory requirements are being met.
In this case, noncompliance should and was documented and regulatory control
action taken accordingly. Moreover, the effectiveness of the corrective
actions that were implemented by the establishment should be
verified by inspection personnel.
APPENDIX
Regulatory
References:
9 CFR 313.2(e): Animals
shall have access to water in all holding pens and, if held longer than 24
hours, access to feed. There shall be sufficient room in the holding pen for
animals held overnight
to lie down.
FSIS Notice 50-02:
ISP
Procedure Code For Humane Slaughter
Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act of 1978, URL address: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/7/ch48.html
The Humane Interactive
Knowledge Exchange (HIKE) is a service of the FSIS
Technical Service
Center
and
DVMS to foster awareness and regulatory
compliance for the welfare of livestock. It is important that everyone
understands that HIKE and the information herein is intended for the use of all
field employees and to be shared with plant management. If questions pertaining
to any of the scenarios, or answers provided on HIKE are not resolved through
discussions within the work-group or with the supervisor, they should be
submitted to the following special “Outlook” address: HIKE@fsis.usda.gov
