Name (Last) (First) (Middle Initial) 

District Job Title 

Module 2 Exam - Situation-Based Humane Handling Training 

Instructions: Circle the letter of the single best response. 

1. Inspectors at the cattle head inspection station notice that some heads have 2 or 3 “stun 

wounds”. They notify offline IPP of the multiple stun wounds. The offline inspector 

immediately proceeds to the stunning area and observes that establishment personnel 

consistently produce insensibility with one shot of the pneumatic captive bolt gun. The 

establishment has a good history of properly stunning animals and sometimes the employee 

doing the stunning administers additional “security” stuns on insensible cattle to ensure 

animals remain insensible. 

a. No action is needed since there is no noncompliance as described. 

b. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if the establishment takes 

prompt corrective action, no RCA (regulatory control action) would be taken and 

no NR (Noncompliance Record) would be issued. 

c. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if necessary to prevent 

recurrence, take a RCA at the stunning area. If prompt action is taken by the 

establishment, a RCA may not be necessary. Document the noncompliance on a 

NR in either case. 

d. Follow the procedures per Directive 6900.2, Rev. 3, for responding to an 

egregious noncompliance. 

2. A heifer has been stunned and hung on the line in the “stack”. The animal’s head and 

eyes give the appearance of being properly stunned (e.g., no blinking, no righting reflex,

no rhythmic breathing, loose floppy tongue) but the legs are kicking violently. A plant 

employee designated to watch the stack notices the kicking animal and immediately 

delivers another stun attempt with a hand-held captive bolt gun. The kicking continues 

despite the additional blow. 

a. No action is needed since there is no noncompliance as described. 

b. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if the establishment takes 

prompt corrective action, no RCA would be taken and no NR would be issued. 

c. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if necessary to prevent 

recurrence, take a RCA at the stunning area. If prompt action is taken by the 

establishment, a RCA may not be necessary. Document the noncompliance on a 

NR in either case. 

d. Follow the procedures per Directive 6900.2, Rev. 3, for responding to an 

egregious noncompliance. 

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3. A small caliber rifle is discharged into the center of the forehead of a mature bull with a 

heavy winter coat. The bull vocalizes and remains standing but does not try to move 

away from the establishment employee who fired the rifle. The employee immediately 

picks up a loaded higher caliber rifle from its holding rack next to the stunning box and 

discharges it. This second stun attempt renders the bull insensible as determined by its 

falling to the floor and its wide open blank eyes. To assure the bull is insensible, the 

employee reaches down and lightly taps one eye; there is no response to the tap. The 

establishment has a good history of consistently rendering animals, including bulls, 

insensible with a single stun. 

a. No action is needed since there is no noncompliance as described. 

b. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if the establishment takes 

prompt corrective action, no RCA would be taken and no NR would be issued. 

c. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if necessary to prevent 

recurrence, take a RCA at the stunning area. If prompt action is taken by the 

establishment, a RCA may not be necessary. Document the noncompliance on a 

NR in either case. 

d. Follow the procedures per Directive 6900.2, Rev. 3, for responding to an 

egregious noncompliance. 

4. A head fork (or wand) placed behind the ears is used to electrically stun a market hog. 

The hog becomes stiff, goes down, and appears properly stunned. By the time it is 

hoisted on the line, rhythmic breathing has returned, the eyes begin to blink normally, 

and the front feet begin paddling motions. An establishment employee sticks the 

animal’s neck and it responds with vocalization, struggling, and trying to lift its head

while looking around until it expires from blood loss about 30 seconds later. 

a. No action is needed since there is no noncompliance as described. 

b. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if the establishment takes 

prompt corrective action, no RCA would be taken and no NR would be issued. 

c. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if necessary to prevent 

recurrence, take a RCA at the stunning area. If prompt action is taken by the 

establishment, a RCA may not be necessary. Document the noncompliance on a 

NR in either case. 

d. Follow the procedures per Directive 6900.2, Rev. 3, for responding to an 

egregious noncompliance. 

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5. An attempt is made to stun a nonambulatory disabled sow in the antemortem pens with 

a hand-held captive bolt gun but the animal moved its head at the last moment and the 

attempt failed, missing the head completely. The animal did not appear excited as a 

result of the missed attempt and the operator immediately applied another stun attempt 

from a pre-loaded backup hand-held captive bolt device which was successful in 

properly stunning the sow. The establishment has a good history of properly stunning 

nonambulatory disabled animals. 

a. No action is needed since there is no noncompliance as described. 

b. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if the establishment takes 

prompt corrective action, no RCA would be taken and no NR would be issued. 

c. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if necessary to prevent 

recurrence, take a RCA at the stunning area. If prompt action is taken by the 

establishment, a RCA may not be necessary. Document the noncompliance on a 

NR in either case. 

d. Follow the procedures per Directive 6900.2, Rev. 3, for responding to an 

egregious noncompliance. 

6. A steer has been stunned with a pneumatic captive-bolt stunner and hung on the line in 

the “stack”. The animal’s head and eyes give the appearance of a properly stunned 

animal (i.e., no blinking, head hanging straight and floppy, and a loose floppy tongue). 

However, when the stick is administered the head is raised abruptly to the right and 

holds in that position for 3 – 4 seconds before dropping back into its original position. 

a. No action is needed since there is no noncompliance as described. 

b. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if the establishment takes 

prompt corrective action, no RCA would be taken and no NR would be issued. 

c. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if necessary to prevent 

recurrence, take a RCA at the stunning area. If prompt action is taken by the 

establishment, a RCA may not be necessary. Document the noncompliance on a 

NR in either case. 

d. Follow the procedures per Directive 6900.2, Rev. 3, for responding to an 

egregious noncompliance. 

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7. A steer has been stunned with a pneumatic captive bolt and hung on the line. While in 

the stack prior to sticking, the animal is vocalizing, observed to be blinking its eyes, 

swallowing and attempting to raise its head up towards and in line with its spine (i.e., a 

righting reflex). Establishment employees do not notice this animal until IPP attract their 

attention and have them render the steer insensible. 

a. No action is needed since there is no noncompliance as described. 

b. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if the establishment takes 

prompt corrective action, no RCA would be taken and no NR would be issued. 

c. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if necessary to prevent 

recurrence, take a RCA at the stunning area. If prompt action is taken by the 

establishment, a RCA may not be necessary. Document the noncompliance on a 

NR in either case. 

d. Follow the procedures per Directive 6900.2, Rev. 3, for responding to an 

egregious noncompliance. 

8. An establishment uses a head-thorax (chest) electrical stunning device with two 

separate wands. An establishment employee places one wand in the hollow immediately 

behind one ear and the second wand on the middle of the thorax and then energizes the 

electrical stunner. The animal exhibits rigor, i.e., muscles become stiff with head lifted 

slightly, when the stunner is energized. When the wands are removed the pig drops but

within a few seconds gets up fully conscious. The establishment employee does not 

know what to do and applies the device again with the same results. After an additional 

attempt with the same results, IPP notify establishment management of the incident and 

an establishment supervisor replaces the stunning device (wand and unit) and effectively 

stuns the animal on the fourth attempt. 

a. No action is needed since there is no noncompliance as described. 

b. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if the establishment takes

prompt corrective action, no RCA would be taken and no NR would be issued. 

c. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if necessary to prevent 

recurrence, take a RCA at the stunning area. If prompt action is taken by the 

establishment, a RCA may not be necessary. Document the noncompliance on a 

NR in either case. 

d. Follow the procedures per Directive 6900.2, Rev. 3, for responding to an 

egregious noncompliance. 

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9. A steer is ritually slaughtered and, after the ritual cut and bleed out period, is hung on 

the overhead rail for dressing. An establishment employee, noticing the animal’s chest

moving in a rhythmic manner, lightly taps one eye which elicits a slow eye blink. He 

immediately picks up a hand-held captive bolt gun from a stand in the hoisting area and 

applies it to ensure the animal remains insensible throughout the dressing procedure. 

The employee reports it to management, who then investigate for possible causes and 

corrective actions as part of its systematic approach to humane handling and slaughter. 

a. No action is needed since there is no noncompliance as described. 

b. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if the establishment takes

prompt corrective action, no RCA would be taken and no NR would be issued. 

c. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if necessary to prevent 

recurrence, take a RCA at the stunning area. If prompt action is taken by the 

establishment, a RCA may not be necessary. Document the noncompliance on a 

NR in either case. 

d. Follow the procedures per Directive 6900.2, Rev. 3, for responding to an 

egregious noncompliance. 

10.A small corral is loaded with multiple hogs for the purpose of stunning prior to slaughter. 

The first animal is stunned with scissor-type electrodes across the head and immediately 

goes down appearing to be insensible. Within a few seconds after release from the head 

scissors, the animal begins strong reflex kicking in the hind legs repeatedly striking a 

nearby hog which cannot get away due to the crowded condition. The hog vocalizes 

loudly as a result of being kicked and becomes increasingly agitated because of the 

kicking of the stunned animal but does not appear to be hurt. 

a. No action is needed since there is no noncompliance as described. 

b. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if the establishment takes 

prompt corrective action, no RCA would be taken and no NR would be issued. 

c. Notify the establishment of the noncompliance and, if necessary to prevent 

recurrence, take a RCA at the stunning area. If prompt action is taken by the 

establishment, a RCA may not be necessary. Document the noncompliance on a 

NR in either case. 

d. Follow the procedures per Directive 6900.2, Rev. 3, for responding to an 

egregious noncompliance. 

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