Livestock Auction, I was not prepared Options

[sea4th]

Quick background: Around here Columbus Day usually marks one of the remaining nice days before the weather turns nasty, and at a time of year when fall leaves are beginning to peak in color. People flock en masse to Amish country. My friend and I have done this for years. It's no longer a novelty. It's a ride in some of the most beautiful countryside you'd want to see. The towns have become tourist traps and on Columbus day, there are actually traffic jams in the country. We've learned where to go to get stuff like cheese and baked goods at a reasonable cost. Everything else is geared toward the tourist $$. We always go to a bulk food store, which has stuff like jams, jellies, baked goods, cheese all locally made. So we went there today. I picked up a couple of things and left my friend in there to putz around. I went outside to take a look at a building I hadn't noticed before -- Sugarcreek Livestock Auction, which was taking place today while we were there. It was a little ways down the road so I walked over and went inside. There weren't too many people there --- some Amish farmers, some non- Amish farmers and they were bidding on calves. I watched for a few minutes, became bored and walked outside to where I had seen a couple of enclosures with horses. I went over to look at the horses. Most showed the wear and tear of whatever life they had before. There were a few who were interested enough in me to come to me and check me out. And a few that enjoyed the interaction with me as I petted them, scratched them, picked clean some wounds. One of these horses, while I was petting him, suddenly lifted his head and looked past me. I followed his gaze and saw that there were the bodies of 2 horses and 2 cows. I was surprised, but s--t happens -- but I became upset when I realized one of the horses was still alive. It flailed it's legs every so often, would lift it head and gave some weak cries of distress. The horse was aware of it's surroundings, because when I came by, he'd startle. I went around to his back to keep out of the way of flailing hooves, and I saw a couple of ugly sores on him. I don't know how long he'd been there, but it was in direct sunlight. I would brush the flies away from his eyes and I wished I had water to pour on him and rub around his head. I went to a veterinary clinic close by and asked if they had the number to animal control for the area and I told them why. The person there gave me a number, but it was the wrong number. My friend then showed up and I told her what was going on. We went inside the auction office and were referred to the guy in charge. I told him of the situation and he said that they were waiting on a truck to come and pick up the bodies, but that there shouldn't have been a live animal there. I asked him to put the horse out of it's misery -- blow his brains out or something. He said he'd get someone to take care of it.

I went back out, waited for about a half an hour and no one came out. In the meantime, the horse occasionally struggled, cried out. The others I don't believe were dead that long, but the stench of decay in the hot sun was becoming evident.

At this point, I'm ready to go in and ask them to give me a something and I'd put the horse out of it's misery myself. My friend was begging me to leave. I did, but I took pictures before I left. They are below and they are disturbing.

My question is, am I naive as a non farmer to feel that any living thing should be given a quick death? Not needlessly made to suffer? What I saw, what the pictures below show, to me is needless and sickening, done by so called civilized people. WTF????

What should I, what could I have done? This is going to haunt me for a long long time -- that I could have done more?

[diane allen]

I don't think you're naive - no animal should be allowed to suffer so. And for that matter, neither should you. All I can think is: you did everything you could think of, even though it wasn't your responsibility. I just wonder if there's anything you can do to prevent this from happening in the future? Not sure who would be the one(s) to contact: the auction folks, whoever owns the site, or as you tried, local government/animal control. A last resort might be a govt. contact - county?

You tried, and you should be commended for that. Beyond that....you have my sincere sympathies for having to endure it then and the memories.

diane

[Rebecca, Irena F...]

Something's missing from modern agriculture, I just realized. I don't know why - maybe someone can fill me in. When I read James Herriot stories, one of the figures that putters in and out of many tales is the "knacker." He's a guy who shows up in a van, and takes animals in any state. If the animal is dead, they go with him and he makes nice meaty dog food out of them (probably used to feed them to ruminants, too). If the animal is any of the other three Ds (diseased, dying, down), or just old and time to go on, he takes them live and kills them humanely and then they go likewise into the meat meal process. He did all this for free and then sold the meat meal.

Where'd that guy go? Obviously here someone had horses that needed to be put down, and maybe they couldn't take care of it themselves for whatever reason (although I would think for myself that if you can't take care of that final need, you shouldn't own it). I'm just wondering - that would have been the answer here. Instead they seem to have treated the auction house as their knacker, only no quick humane end awaited them there.

Looks like the auction people just suffered from Not My Job-itis. Although, they may have thought it was possible that someone would rescue the live horse - while there's life there's hope? Trying to put a good spin on something that looks pretty sad.

The cattle could have very easily died of pneumonia. It's really easy to lose ruminants to this when traveling - they can go down lickety split (like, hours) even if perfectly healthy.

[sea4th]

[quote name='Rebecca, Irena Farm' date='Oct 14 2008, 05:58 AM' post='263058']

Obviously here someone had horses that needed to be put down, and maybe they couldn't take care of it themselves for whatever reason (although I would think for myself that if you can't take care of that final need, you shouldn't own it). I'm just wondering - that would have been the answer here. Instead they seem to have treated the auction house as their knacker, only no quick humane end awaited them there. [/color]That is the impression I got after talking to the person in charge.

Looks like the auction people just suffered from Not My Job-itis. Am I naive to believe that since this was on auction property, someone should be held to a higher standard? Although, they may have thought it was possible that someone would rescue the live horse - while there's life there's hope? Trying to put a good spin on something that looks pretty sad.

The cattle could have very easily died of pneumonia. It's really easy to lose ruminants to this when traveling - they can go down lickety split (like, hours) even if perfectly healthy. In my limited knowledge, I understand, and while taken aback at first, I know that when you're dealing with living things, s--t happens, so I wasn't even questioning why or how these animals were there. That one of them was still alive, changed the rules. [color="#8B0000"]

[sea4th]

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[Rebecca, Irena F...]

Looks like the auction people just suffered from Not My Job-itis.

Am I naive to believe that since this was on auction property, someone should be held to a higher standard?

I think lots of people would benefit from higher standards. There's many times I have to say, "It's out of my power." If I'd had the means and the permission to put that horse out of its misery or alleviate its pain, I sure would have. But I don't travel with the wherewithal to kill a horse. Maybe they didn't have anything there either.?

[juliepoudrier]

I believe the auction house should be prepared to humanely destroy animals that are down and on its property. If that situation were at someone's private property, and someone saw and reported it, they could get in trouble for it, and I don't see any reason the auction wouldn't be held to a similar standard. It's just sick to let animals lie there and suffer when ending a life is not that difficult. I probably would have gone back in to the auction and pestered them till they did something and my next step might have been to call the local sheriff's office. I would certainly report the auction house to animal control or perhaps the entity that licenses such facilities (the USDA?) so that there's a complaint on record.

Yes, it's reality that animals die, but IMO they shouldn't be allowed knowingly to suffer. And Vicki, I agree that if you can't afford an animal at the end of its life, you probably shouldn't have that animal in the first place.

I remember traveling through Amish country in PA years ago and passing a Belgian dead on the side of the road. I wondered then if someone was going to remove the body or just leave it there to become someone else's problem.

J.

[bcnewe2]

I am a farmer I know it's not easy to end suffering for some animals. I also agree that some animals can not take the stress of the trip to the auction house. But the cruelty of putting that dying horse, not dead horse in there with the already dead animals seems like an awful torture to me.
Isn't it one of the reasons we don't slaughter horses here in the states because people consider them of to have a higher brain function that other ruminants?
If it were me and I didn't have the means to do it myself or like Julie said pester someone there till they did, I'd be calling the USDA or the right orginization to report the incident. If that didn't get me anywhere, I might send the picture of the dying horse to the local new station. Yes I know I'd be causing trouble but that horse deserved more than that for his final hours.

Sad sad sad.

Kristen

[Rebecca, Irena F...]

I had originally posted a much longer response but then erased all but the bit I left. In the longer part, I basically said that in that place I would have called the sheriff. I once waited an hour for the sheriff to come and take care of a HBC dying dog that I spotted on the way somewhere - I had to call them three different times - each time I offered to come bring the dog THERE but they quoted some stupid rule that the public couldn't admit dogs after hours - they had to take it from the site where she had gone down. It was a horrible hour and it's one of the few times I wished that I toted a gun.

And Vicki, I agree that if you can't afford an animal at the end of its life, you probably shouldn't have that animal in the first place.

I said that, actually.

[Tea]

That breaks my heart. We used to do horse rescue. But lost the land we had it on.

Part of the problem is the bad practice of wanting to ship suffering animals alive to the slaughterer. All to make money.

My Pop used to say money earned that way is not good.

I have been in situations like that without a gun. I covered the animals head with my coat and used a big maul.

You were good to try to help,and good to document it.
Send it to the US humane society. Please

[juliepoudrier]

I said that, actually.

Yep, sorry about the misquote--I was rushing this morning and not paying close attention. The point is an important one, for owners of livestock and pets: if you can't afford to take care of them, and that includes at the end of their lives, then you shouldn't own them (I understand that sometimes people's circumstances change, but foisting your problem off on someone else is not the answer, nor is cruelty to the animal).

No, it's not easy or pleasant to have to take the life of an animal, nor is it easy to watch one die as you're trying to save it, but I think it's a responsibility you accept whenever you decide to keep livestock.

Vicki,
I commend you for your compassion and hope that poor horse doesn't haunt you forever. I hope you can find some sort of resolution, through reporting the auction house or whatever other avenue you choose. If nothing else, there's always the option of a letter to the editor of the local paper.

J.

[painted_ponies]

Oh.My.God. Vicki, bless you for not just walking away. Your post brought tears to my eyes. I don't know if there is an authority that oversees livestock auctions, but I'll try to find out for you and will post here when I do.

Looks as though the poor thing was starved. So the meat man wouldn't have been interested, especially not these days when there's plenty of horses at auction on whom he could turn a better profit.

I read on Fugly Horse of the Day (it's a horse blog dedicated to the principle that one should not "breed fugly" and mercilessly outs breeders who do - y'all would like it) that a northern Ca. horse rescue is offering euthanasia to desperate horse owners for $25.00. The reason? It's cheaper to send a horse to auction ($75.00) than to humanely euthanize it ($250.00 to $500.00). The economy has hit the horse world pretty hard. I know, bullets are still relatively cheap at Wal-mart but there are lots of people who can't or won't do that last kindness for their horses.

ETA: Here's the link for NorCal Horse Rescue's Euthanasia Clinic. They're asking for donations to help provide this service.

[Lewie'sMom]

Whew! I had to fall back and regroup after reading Vicki’s post to clear my eyes and blow my nose.

Major kudos to you for trying to ease the suffering and find resolution for the dying horse. Not everyone would care enough to go out on a limb like that. There may be circumstances surrounding this heart-wrenching incident that we will never be privy to but that doesn’t stop the hurt, anger and frustration we feel when suffering occurs unnecessarily.

Living in farm country all my life but not being a farmer I can only conjecture as to any emotional connection between farmer and livestock. I’d like to believe that any small farmer who gains his/her livelihood from livestock/animals is not in it strictly for the money. I would like think there is a real care/concern for the animals themselves, at least to some degree. Gone (pretty much) are the days of generational independent farmers who know their animals, their personalities and idiosyncrasies. We endeavor to be livestock owners/caregivers for love of a particular species, do we not?.

Where am I going with these thoughts? I’m not quite sure myself. I guess it’s only to say that those of us who really care about the well-being of our animals, whether they are pets, partners, working stock or livestock perhaps fall into a different category than other folks. We have a relationship with our animals that some people will never understand. Each one is special and we take full responsibility for their well-being. When they are gone there is a void that nothing or no one can ever fill. Thank God the human heart has room for countless relationships.

Knowing we care doesn’t make the death of one animal any easier but caring for it can salve the wound.

But, I’m preachin’ to the choir.

My 2 cents

[painted_ponies]

Becca - My (internet) friends in the UK still talk about the knacker, but he no longer makes house calls. You have to take the horse to the slaughterhouse. But I think in the UK slaughter is accomplished much differently than here - the way my friends describe it, one drives the horse to the knacker and leads it to where it needs to be, and it's killed quickly and humanely with a captive bolt gun to the head. Never know what hit 'em.

Other options in this country include donating a horse to the local fox hunt (for hound food) or to a zoo (for big cat food). In these cases, of course, the horse needs to be shot or killed by captive bolt - no chemicals. And at least in the case of the zoos, they generally require the horse be sent to them several days ahead - which I, personally, can't imagine doing to a horse on its last legs. But that would still be a far better end than the poor horse in this post had.

[painted_ponies]

Vicki - What state was this in?

[Tea]

We've had people ask us to put their animals down to feed to big rehab predators. That seems a kinder solution.

I have a very tight bond with my livestock. They feed me and mine. They also provide a good income, to pay the morgage.

However I was raised to think of them before myself. So thats why I don't ship my lambs. They are killed here on the farm in front of me, by the state guy in the case of locker lambs, or by me or my husband or brothers if its for us.

The lambs know us so they are never frightened.

But I make less money doing that.

This is where I think the laws should be changed. I hear in Europe you can by anything right from the farmers door without a middle man.

[sea4th]

Vicki - What state was this in?

Ohio --- Sugarcreek. I just briefly checked the ASPCA's website -- about reporting cruelty. If I understood them correctly, they respond to media and non-media complaints (?) they give suggestions where you can lodge a complaint. I'll have to take another look at their website when I get home, but it seems that going directly to the media would eliminate a lot of time that more than likely would be spent for nothing.

I don't think that like to organizations like HSUS or PETA would necessarily be a good thing, to have a circus made out of this situation.

But for the sake of the next horse or other animal, something should be done. I hate to think that this poor thing was discarded like yesterday's garbage and left to suffer a long, lingering death.

That's one reason I posted the pictures here --- I could have left them out because they are disturbing, but visuals pack a lot of punch. Hopefully, the plight of this horse with get a lot of people up and mad as hell.

[DeltaBluez Tess]

>>>I read on Fugly Horse of the Day <<<

Me, too!! I bet she would be interested in this topic

Diane

[painted_ponies]

Ohio --- Sugarcreek.

Wow.

Link to just one of the many websites about Sugarcreek Livestock Auctions. Apparently even featured in an HBO special on equine cruelty.

The author of the linked blog says USDA is in charge but apparently USDA disagrees.

[bcnewe2]

I have a good friend whose job is to inspect processing plants all over the country, I'll talk to her and see what she recomends. She tells me horror stories but this one is one of the worst I've seen besides on TV.

I'm so sorry that Vicki had to see that, but so glad she got pictures and is determined to do something. If more people cared and followed though, things might get better.

Kristen