citation_inspection: 5821

During the exit interview on June 9th, 2014, the facility representative showed the USDA inspector photos he stated the facility had taken of the animals found in need of veterinary care during this inspection on June 4th, 2014. He said he wanted them signed and dated by the USDA inspector. He said he needed them signed and dated because "you people lie and we need this to show the judge how incompetent you are." The USDA inspector stated he would not sign the photos. It was discovered during this exit interview that a non-compliant item listed under Section 3.129 was spilled duck feed (present in the kangaroo enclosure for the co-housed ducks) rather than spilled kangaroo feed. In order to ensure the report was accurate, the USDA inspector stated he would remove the citation. The facility representative then said he was going to keep the draft report with the error and wanted a new one created. The USDA inspector explained that the correction would mean the original was not a final report and that the draft was only used for review and to ensure it was correct. He then said he wanted to keep the draft report and would not return it. He said he wanted this to show the judge all the mistakes that the USDA makes. The USDA inspector then printed the corrected copy of the inspection report, completed the review of the report with the facility representative, and asked if the facility representative would sign it. The facility representative then said (cid:28)I will sign it if you man up and sign the photos I want signed." The USDA inspector stated that he would only sign the inspection report. The facility representative left the room and said he needed to talk to the licensee. He returned in approximately 10 minutes and said they were keeping the original report and if the USDA inspector refused the sign the photos he was going to get a video camera to record a statement from the USDA inspector stating why he would not sign the photos. At that time, the USDA inspector advised the facility representative that the exit interview was over and that the inspection report would be delivered by certified mail. The USDA inspector also explained to the facility representative that a citation under Section 2.4 would be added to this report for interference of the inspection process. He then said, "Fine. Put it on there. Just be sure you say what happened." A licensee or representative shall not interfere with any APHIS official in the course of carrying out his or her duties. The facility representative(cid:25)s actions during this exit interview interfered with the completion of the inspection process and made it impossible to ensure a correct copy of the facility inspection report was delivered during the exit interview. His comment about using the draft report and photos to show the incompetence of the USDA inspectors in court was an attempt to intimidate the USDA inspector and therefore interfered with the inspection process. The inspection process requires a working relationship between the USDA and the facility and interference makes this process difficult to impossible. Correct by: Immediately