MT. AIRY, Md. — The USDA has lifted the suspension of a Mount Airy butcher after inspectors last month witnessed the inhumane slaughter of a pig at their facility.
A November 8 report from the Food Safety and Inspection Service concluded that Wagner Meats, LLC committed an "egregious" violation .
As result the agency temporarily suspended all certified inspections at the business until corrective action was taken.
The suspension followed an incident where it took staff at Wagner Meats five shots with a .22 Magnum rifle to put down a 600 pound pig.
According to the report the process took several minutes leaving the animal in pain, until finally after the fifth shot, a staff member used an electrical stun gun to incapacitate the pig.
Inspectors considered the incident egregious because "there were multiple attempts to stun the animal with a failure to apply an immediate and effective corrective action."
Officials based their initial decision to suspend off a federal rule that states the following.
“The firearms shall be employed in the delivery of a bullet or projectile into the animal in accordance with this section so as to produce immediate unconsciousness in the animal by a single shot before it is shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut. The animal shall be shot in such a manner that they will be rendered unconscious with a minimum of excitement and discomfort.”
Online records show one day after being notified of the suspension, the owner of Wagner Meats filed a written response with the USDA outlining corrective and preventive measures that would be taken to bring the business back in compliance with humane handling of livestock.
On November 10 the USDA evaluated the measures and found them to be acceptable, allowing for Wagner Meats to resume operations.
The agency said they will continue to verify future compliance with regulatory requirements.
