During an inspection on April 6, USDA in-plant inspection personnel (IPP) entered a barn and witnessed a Prestage employee preparing a hand-held captive bolt device for stunning of a hog, according to a letter of suspension from the USDA’s Des Moines District Office of Food Safety and Inspection Service.

After the initial stunning attempt, the hog remained conscious and standing on all four feet. The IPP examined the hog’s head and noted the skin was not broken. The Prestage employee then made a second attempt to stun the hog, and the bolt penetrated its head.

“The hog dropped to its stifles and hocks and was conscious and began to move away from the employee,” the letter reads. “The hog could not walk and was crawling and dragging itself on its hocks and stifles and maneuvered itself … approximately 90 feet.”

Another individual, who is not identified in the letter, used the same captive bolt device to perform the third stun, which did render the hog unconscious.

“The observations detailed above indicate an egregious violation of the humane handling requirements specified” in federal code, the letter says.

Because of these violations, the USDA/FSIS suspended the assignment of inspectors for Prestage’s slaughter operations on April 6.

By law, animal slaughtering facilities cannot operate without the presence of an FSIS inspector at all times.

Operations at Prestage were halted for less than a day, according to a company spokesperson.

“Our plant team immediately addressed the issues noted by USDA personnel and we resumed operations the next morning,” Prestage Communications Director Deborah Johnson told The Messenger. “USDA inspection personnel are present at all times when we are operating. If they have any concern about the proper handling of animals or food safety, we are committed to address it and do so in a timely manner.”

Prestage’s violations also caught the attention of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which sent a letter to Terry O’Rourke, general manager and vice president of Prestage Foods of Iowa, urging him to add cameras to the facility to livestream video as a means to prevent workers from “mishandling more animals.”

“These reports reveal that Prestage Foods, where a pig recently crawled an agonizing 90 feet after being shot repeatedly, is hell on Earth for animals,” said PETA Vice President of Evidence Analysis Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling on this chronic offender to livestream its slaughter operations so everyone can see that the only humane meal is a vegan one.”

On April 7, O’Rourke received a notice of suspension held in abeyance from the USDA/FSIS, which essentially puts a suspension on the suspension. The letter notes that O’Rourke provided FSIS written corrective actions and preventive measures, which ”outlined actions adequate to address the noncompliance regarding humane handling of livestock requirements, including a plan to maintain compliance.”

The minimum length of abeyance period from USDA/FSIS is 90 days, in which Prestage Foods is essentially in a probationary period with increased oversight while the FSIS verifies that the corrective action and preventive measures are effectively implemented. If found to not be in compliance, the USDA/FSIS can activate the suspension of operations again.

“We are committed to meeting the animal welfare standards we have set for ourselves as well as the standards of our customers and communities,” reads the Animal Welfare Statement of Prestage Farms Inc.

In July 2020, Prestage was reprimanded by the USDA/FSIS after an FSIS inspector observed a market hog kicking while on the bleed chain after it had passed through the carbon dioxide stunner without being stunned before going through a machine that scrapes hair off the pig’s body while still conscious.